May I have this dance?
by anonymous.mystery95
Summary: The life of a spy is usually very complex. What started off as an innocent reunion in St. Hopes High soon weaves a web of distress and pain. But when one spy gets injured and another captured; secrets will come to light.
1. Prologue part 1

OK. Well this is my first actual fanfic. I hope you enjoy it. The first fanfic I had to write had to be on MI High. Sorry it was so small. BTW These prologue's aren't part of the story, but you need them for the rest of it.

Rose honestly had no idea what she was doing there.

So what, if she had gone there every year for 6 years, and that she was the student that all the teachers loved, adored, possibly worshiped. That was still no excuse for having to back there, to St Hopes, for a 2010 reunion. Seriously though, it was 5 years ago and she didn't talk to any one there. They all thought she was a nerd, which she was, but that was beside the point. The only people that talked to her were spies…or Stewart, but with all his "knowledge" on spies, he should be considered as one. But she had to, Daisy, Blane, Oscar AND Carrie were on missions, one of those missions she was supposed to be there, as the technological person. But M.I 9 forced her to go; she had to, to keep up appearances. St Hopes were already suspicious of the fact that during school Daisy, Blane or herself was not there. If not that then it was Oscar, Carrie or herself. She could definitely held her own in the battlefield, but she disappeared the most so she had to go.

'Stupid logical thinking' she muttered getting out of the taxi. Typical British weather meant that it there was a 5 percent chance the sun actually appearing today. The dark clouds threatened to unleash the worst it could, but were restrained for now. But as she stopped to actually look at the school, she was pretty sure she had the wrong address. She had predicted a 7 out of 10 possibility of the school remaining as it was, with a 3 out of 10 possibility of it getting worse. Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined that the school would actually improve. She started to wonder around in awe, just taking in the new facilities, improved sporting field, and the science labs that were just _calling _out her name. But her thoughts, as they usually are, were interrupted by a male, thirty plus years her senior.

'Ahh Rose Gupta' exclaimed My Flatley. 'Admiring the new buildings aye. Well, we have no one to thank but you.'

'What sir?' She had heard on the spy grapevine that the St Hopes School and M.I. High headquarters were under the extreme threat of being shut down. But that was all solved…somehow. It all happened too quickly and easily for Rose to have any real interest or feel a challenge.

'All I had to do was tell a few important people that Dr. Rose Gupta, PhD went to St Hopes High and the money came flowing in'

'Ooh' _that explains why it ended quickly_. Rose was smart and easily put two and two together. The pay rises that never occurred and the shut down of the school didn't occur either. While Rose was reminiscing on the memories she had on that very spot Mr Flatley continued speaking.

'…And that's where I got the name for the new gym Flatley's Emporium ' Rose had to cut him off before he continued any further. _Some people never change._

'Well sir, I got to go you know…' Rose had never been good at excuses. '…The , umm, reunion.' And before Flatley could utter another word she had left, but not because she wanted to go to the reunion, but rather to get away from Flatley. She began to slow down when she thought that she was far enough away, but silently cursed her misfortune, because she could clearly hear Mr Flatley coming from the behind. As she turned the corner she prayed she would see someone, anyone just as long as Flatley wouldn't start talking. It seemed that hope was truly lost and Rose started to think of excuses early. '_I lost my way, I was admiring the interior design…' _

But then she found herself bumping into someone, and as she looked at this someone's face she couldn't be anymore relieved.

**So who is this stranger, someone unknown or someone we know very closely all will be revealed in the second instalment of 'May I have this dance!'**

**Sorry, I've always wanted to say that **** Anyways PLEASE review…it's my b'day. And if you don't review I won't think your interested and I might not continue. And I'm serious, it is my b'day. Please!!**


	2. Prologue part 2

.

**This the second instalment of May I Have This Dance? The last prologue, you find out …just R&R. Dedicated to my ONLY reviewer dragonstoneprotector. I'm so touched:).**

**I forgot the disclaimer before so:**

**I DO not own M.I. high X2**

'Hi Stewart' Rose exclaimed, the only person here she was actually willing to see. She still didn't know why he left, he was the only person who understood her technological side, that was until Oscar came, and he fully didn't get it. **(A.N explain later)**

'Hi Rose, I don't think anyone's ever been so happy to see me, well maybe a few but…' He started to look away at a distance and completely ignore Rose's presence, which was bad because Mr Flatley was two steps behind her. In a desperate attempt she waved her hand in front of his face.

'Hello?' Stewart arrived back in reality, and in time too, Mr Flatley, Rose noticed, walked straight past.

Oh hi, sorry about that. Just thinking. Anyways…' Stewart looked speechless which was starting to freak Rose out.

'Stewart?'

'So Rose, do you have this Friday night free or anything.'

Stewart looked really awkward doing, which freaked Rose out even further.

'What, THIS Friday?' Rose asked

'Yeah' Stewart replied, after some thought.

'What? Like a date?' Rose questioned further, really not wanting a certain answer. Stewart's eyes opened a whole lot wider as if he understood what he'd just asked her.

'NO! goodness no. My work is having a get together thing and I'd think you'd really impress them, who knows they might hire you. Anyways, I already have a girlfriend, her name is Anita.' **(A.N. NO. My name is NOT Anita)**

'Well…' Truth be told, Rose had plans for that night, well Carrie had plans. The annual dance-slash-award ceremony for all M.I units was on at that time, but Rose didn't want to go. And by agreeing to Stewart she'd already have plans and couldn't go to the dance…Rose could feel a plan forming. And soon Rose would be feeling something else.

Rose could feel the vibrations that her charm 'bracelet' was giving off. M.I.9 had different communication devices for people outside of school. After all, it had to BE 'normal,' no matter how UNnormal the normal item looked. For female field agents this included a gold bracelet with many charms. The lightning bolt vibrated to alert the wearer that they are being communicated; the microphone was just that, a microphone. By pressing a discreet button the person on the other side can hear the conversation and the stereo covertly let the wearer hear what was being said on the other line and a little camera, which provided visual for other people on the line. This was the CB2, a version that only she, Carrie, Oscar and Frank had access to. Which meant one of the two possible things, the mission was in grave danger and they needed urgent attention or they just wanted to talk to her, possibly tease her about her predicament (the reunion). The former was highly unlikely, albeit possible and so she knew it was just a catch up. Only, she realised it was probably more than a catch-up, it was probably another cruel twisted way that Carrie would attempt to get her to go to the dance on Friday (who said the good guys were never were bad). Oscar was probably only there for the laughs…only he wouldn't get any, not at her expense anyways.

So she stuck her hand behind her back and pressed the button on the mic. And drew her hand forward in such a way that she KNEW that they could hear, now it was time for the fatal blow to end Carrie's dream ever since the prom.

'Rose?' She realised she hadn't answered yet.

'This Friday? 7:30?' Rose repeated

'Yeah.' Stewart looked confused 'I already said that.'

'Sure' Rose smiled. 'I'd love to' then quickly disappeared to a small discreet room, which had the words "Janitor's closet" on it. She placed her fingerprint, entered the room, pulled the lever down and went down the elevator. As she entered HQ memories came flooding back of the good times, the not so good times, the missions…everything. As she came to the computer screens she typed up the connection and a visual of Carrie and Oscar appeared, there were somewhere in the Sahara investigating a drug smuggling ring, pretty basic stuff. Rose though, had to stifle a laugh seeing Oscar in the culture's tradition clothing. So instead she smiled, she usually did that when she saw Oscar...and Carrie. But now she would have to brace herself from Carrie's wrath in 3…2…1…now.

'What on earth Rose! You know about the ball- slash-award ceremony and yet you purposely agreed to it. That's despicable.' Rose's smile still remained, that is until she saw Oscar's expression, it was a mixture between sad and angry and possibly hurt, but Rose just assumed she was reading to much into it, But one thing was for certain, he had entered the dark side.

'Do you both seriously think I should go to the dance?' Rose whispered, silently not wanting an answer

'well ac-' Carrie began, before Oscar interrupted.

'Well actually we do, Rose you missed out on the prom, and every single ball award thingy that's happened. It getting to far.' Oscar spoke which such passion and zeal it made Rose take a step back. And Carrie, happy with the result Oscar's speech continued to pound the punches.

'Don't think it hasn't gone unnoticed Rose, I mean seriously you work with spies.' Then she smiled before continuing. 'So me and the head of M.I.9 got talking and we made a special thing for you. If you want to receive your precious "scientific spy of the year" award you better go and…' Rose would swear she saw an evil glint in her eye during the pause '…dance.'

Those 5 letters struck terror into the heart of Rose's soul. The embarrassment, the torture, she may be the smartest girl alive and she may be able to withstand any amount of torture thrown at her. Anything but THAT.

'Who says I'm going to win? What about the elusive Agent C' Rose questioned

'He's a myth, just created to add some excitement to …the…ceremony.' By the time Oscar ended what he was saying it sounded like a question. Rose's upraised eyebrows were the answer. 'You mean he's…real?'

'Yep.' Rose tried to keep it in but the way Oscar and Carrie looked at her so expectantly, she couldn't. 'ARGHHH. You don't know how irritating it is. I hacked the M.I.9 mainframe ten times, and I was blocked. Every. Single. Time. All I got was that he or she is called Agent C and he OR she has a subscription with Conspiracy monthly.'

'They has a subscription with Conspiracy Monthly?' Carrie asked 'How do you know that?'

Rose suddenly looked embarrassed. 'I umm dressed up as the M.I.9 messenger person and looked at the letters. It was addressed to Agent C.'

'You WHAT?!' Oscar was on the brink of hysteria. _I was wrong. He still managed to laugh._

'I'm not proud okay. I was desperate.'

'Okay then. Well you know you have competition, wouldn't you want to know that you are better, that you are still number one.' This way of persuasion was working more than the others and everyone knew it.

'You know that if you don't go he or she will win, by default. You wouldn't want that. The Rose we know wouldn't back down from any challenge. The Rose we know would endure it, just to see.'

'Come on Rose, what's the worst that could happen?' Oscar pleaded, and Rose backed down. She was battered and bruised up about this dance for half the year EVERY year. She couldn't endure it any longer.

'Okay, I yield. I'll go.'

Carrie and Oscar were exuberant, over the moon…happy. Rose was already regretting the decision. But then Carrie remembered one small detail.

'What about the boy up there.' Carrie said wiggling her eyebrows **(A.N not to be taken in a wrong way, its in a joking way).** 'You know, your date.' Rose and Oscar frowned simultaneously; the thought hadn't crossed her mind that she was ever going to cancel with Stewart.

'Yes' Rose agreed, 'that is going to be a predicament isn't it.' Rose thought for a moment and Oscar and Carrie looked in eager anticipation to the response. No matter what Rose did or said, it was going to be interesting. 'I could bring him with us.' Rose suggested hopefully.

'Hah.' Laughed Oscar with a sarcastic edge to it. 'I don't think that will ever happen. I mean, you have to be a spy and it is highly unlikely if not impossible for him to become a spy in six days.'

'Fine.' Rose said. 'I'll tell him something came up.' Rose shook her head in disgust. 'He doesn't deserve this you know.' Oscar and Carrie just smiled happily and just as Rose reached the elevator Carrie called out.

'Oh, Rose just to let you know the mission is gonna be finished by tonight. I expect you to be ready for a week of shopping, pedicures, manicures…' and as Carrie continued to go on all Rose could do is shake her head and step into the elevators, the communication was going to turn off automatically after Carrie and Oscar signed out.

Now it was time for the most torturous part of the day, telling Stewart. But not before turning off the mic. on the charm bracelet. If she was gonna tell Stewart they were NOT going to hear it happen.

Rose had been practising what she was going to say for the trip up the elevator and all the way through the school. Short, simple and straight to the point without him actually getting hurt. _Something from worked popped up, my aunt twice removed fell seriously ill._ She decided to resort to lying, but when she saw him the excuses flew from her mind.

'Oh, hi Stewart' Rose started awkwardly.

'Hi Rose' said Stewart, oblivious to the devastation that would soon befall him. 'I can't wait to for Friday night. I think that my …' Stewart seemed to pause for a moment, as if to think of the right words to say. 'work colleagues with be well impressed with you.'

'Stewart.' Started Rose, but was cut off by Stewart continuing to talk.

'I can't believe you agreed though'

'Stewart!' Rose attempted again to tell him the bad news.

'I mean seriously,-'

'STEWART!' This time Rose got his attention. 'I can't go Friday night, something came up, something important.' Rose finished that sentence rather darkly; remembering the cruel way Carrie got her to succumb.

'Oh really.' Rose could see that he was holding his emotions, but it was still obvious he was upset. _If he's this upset holding in his emotions, how upset must he really be. _Rose couldn't stand it anymore, whether it was the forlorn look on his face or the awkward that followed she had to get out of there. She turned away and quickly started to walk away, away from him, away from the school, away from everything. But though, when she was only a few steps away he called her.

'Rose, would you ever consider being…doing…' Stewart never finished the sentence; it was as if he was regretting starting it.

Was doing what?' By now Rose's spy curiosity had been piqued.

'Never mind. By the way don't worry about the whole "not coming to my workplace" thing.' He attempted to laugh. 'They probably would have killed me for bringing in a stranger.' There was something about the way he said it Rose noticed, as if he was being serious. Rose shook her head and just walked away. She had gone to the reunion, sort of…not really. But she was seen and that was the main point, mission accomplished. She had laughed, spoken to people, accepted and rejected a perfectly innocent guy, all because of the job that she loved. But there were times (like now) that she hated it. She waved and tried to get the attention of a taxi when all of a sudden it began to rain. _Sometimes I hate being right. _

The taxi had come, she had left and all that awaited her was a week of gruelling tasks, preparations, Carrie and one dance-slash- award thingy that she will never forget. Never!

**Did you like it? Hate it? Totally ignore it? Review and tell me what you think. The next chapter is at the actual dance where some…things will be revealed, but it should be obvious what they will be, to a spy at least. Anyways 1) there will be a pairing (if you guess it I'll dedicate the chapter to you:)) and 2) what I mean by Oscar kinda getting her in the tech. stuff is series 3 stuff. 1st ep. He's like 'I shoulda known that' and when Rose was at France and the gymnastics competition. He worked on codes and stuff.**


	3. Sweet, little, innocent Rose

**.**

**This is the actual story at the actual dance, sorry its small, it's like ¾ of what it should be. I'm SO SORRY, but I had a major Aust.. Geo assignment and I need to start working on that so I'm posting this up for u guys. **

**I just past my accounts 1****st**** month b'day. YAY. Now for dedications : **LionsOnASee-Saw** and **cloudyskiesbringimagination ** you were semi-right (who are your contacts??) and to **dragonestoneprotector ** the only person to review both chappies. You guys make me feel like I'm floating on the clouds.**

**P.S check out Eye Spy bu LionOnASee-Saw and the Trio by Lotdin. They are SO not given the credit they deserve!**

…

_**On the night.**_

7 facials, 2 manicures, 2 pedicures, 5 different hairdressers, over 50 formal clothing stores and 25 shoes stores Rose and Carrie were ready and pumped for some action. Well Carrie was pumped, Rose still looked like she was going to throw up and for a spy, showing that amount of fear is not good. But fear is the only emotion Rose could possibly display, especially since she didn't even know what dress she was wearing, Carrie chose it, said it perfect for her. If the dance didn't scare her, those few words that Carrie had uttered broke down any sort of emotional barrier she could have built up. Now fear was blatantly shown on her face. Oscar had tried desperately to get her out of it, the guilt of her going and behaving like this put an immense burden on him. But, it was to no avail, after all trying to beat something like spending entire days with Carrie doing all that "girly" stuff; he knew it would be a losing battle. _But it was worth trying,_ he told himself, _Rose was worth trying, anything is worth trying if it gets rid of the guilt._ But for Rose anything she tried didn't work. Pleading, begging, flattery, blackmail, threats, sucking up it all didn't work. She almost injected herself with the chicken pox but Oscar walked in on her, with one of his attempts to lighten her spirits. He grabbed the injecting thing and made her look him in the eye and promise she wouldn't do anything to harm herself just to get out of the dance. Rose weekly smiled at the memory of it, she kept the promise of course, and in fact she gave up. She almost started to enjoy herself; Carrie's happiness could do that to people. But one thing Carrie's optimism could not do is make Rose forget about the dance and that would ruin any chance of happiness she would conjure up during the length of the day.

But all the preparation Rose was able to deal with; it was the actual dance that freaked her half to death. And as she stood right in front of _**'la maison speciale'**_ she knew it was the only thing left. La Maison Speciale was no ordinary rich, expensive, luxurious hotel; its literal translation from French is 'the special home' home for a special type of people. Because not everybody was able to 'rent' there, they had to be special, or part of the special services. The CIA, FBI, all of the MI units, anybody who was approved by the British government on a mission in Britain or just needed a place to crash could go there, no fee allowed, ever. And so, it was the best place to hold the celebration, after all, it provided accommodation and a grand ballroom. Rose and Carrie were sharing a room to help each other 'get ready' (or in other words, so Carrie can keep a close eye on Rose) while Oscar got a room all to himself. The sad thing for Rose is that Carrie sent all the things before hand and so Rose couldn't object till she was up there…with Carrie… with no escape. _In fact_ Rose thought to herself, _I probably wouldn't be able to object at all._

But Rose was pulled out of her reminiscing by Carrie, quite literally. Carrie was so eager to enter the hotel she didn't mind hurting Rose to get in there, either that or she decided to force Rose in there, knowing how desperate she was NOT to. Once all three had entered the hotel, all they could do is look in awe. The hotel was huge, and that's not counting the levels below it, where all the experimentations and technological breakthroughs occurred. It had a major chandelier and one major stairway (though, being spies there is more 'less obvious' ways down or up), all in all, it just had an air of elegance.

'Wow.' It may have been the most basic word in Rose's vocabulary but it was the most suitable word to describe the building.

'I know, right' Carrie couldn't be any more euphoric to be here. 'And we are going to be dancing here, receiving awards, whatever. It's just SO cool.' That comment brought Rose out her happy state and back into reality. The dance. 'Well, come on Rose, we have 2 hours to get ready.' Carrie was already half way up the stairs when she noticed Rose wasn't behind her. As she looked behind her Carrie shook her head. Rose's fear, hatred, general dislike for dancing was so drastic it was on the verge of being humorous. One look at Rose pushed it over the edge. Rose was just standing there as still as a statue, Oscar standing next to her waving his hand in front of her.

'Rose?' no response.

'ROSE!' Carrie's voice was strong, and with the added volume of her being in a empty-ish room, it was enough to wake Rose from her daze. 'Are you coming?'

'Umm…I'll be there soon. Just going to study the interior architectural brilliance of the place.' A typical Rose response, had they not known Rose's true reason. Carrie knew she would have to get ready early so she was able to get ready, and the room ready, and so- with some discreet eye communication with Oscar- she went up to her room, which fortunately was on the first floor. Rose, barely registering the fact Oscar was there crept rather secretively to the door, and she would have escaped if Oscar had not grabbed her hand while she was halfway through the doors. Oscar noticed the look of pure desperation, fear, the anxiety on her face and he almost let her go. But his spy training kicked in and his grip remained firm.

'Please Rose don't go. You're safe here.' _You're with me_.

'I'm a spy, I am safe anywhere'

'You and I both know that's not what I meant'

'What did you mean?' Rose said it in a rather provocative way and she could physically see Oscar recoil from those words. She regretted them instantly.

'I'm sorry Oscar; it wasn't supposed to come out like that. It's just… give me one good reason to stay.'

'The award, the competition between you and Agent C, you actually meeting Agent C, there's many.'

'Oscar. I said good reasons.'

'Those are good reasons what's…wrong …with…' One look from Rose said it all. 'Fine, you want a good reason, stay for Carrie.' He hesitated before finishing off the sentence, hesitant of her reaction. Then he looked her in the eye and finished it off. 'Stay for me.'

Rose had never seen Oscar like this, the intenseness captured in green eyes. It had nothing to do with him, yet it looked like he cared about this more than his grades, his uni. Course (A.N it IS rose.). She was enchanted, captured by his gaze and as hard as she tried she couldn't rip her eyes away from him.

'If you wanted to escort me to the dance, all you had to do was ask' said Rose smiling_._ Oscar almost laughed, but was able to hold it in and just smile.

'Well, what are we waiting for?'

'What! What do you mean we?'

'I'm coming no matter what.'

'Fine.' Rose marched outside first, because she was already half way out it and Oscar followed. They leaned on the wall and just breathed and thought, mostly about the past minute. Both of them had questions, both had answers, but what they didn't have is the courage to speak. The half minute that followed was quite awkward, Rose had just mustered enough courage to ask when Oscar spoke

'Come on, we better go inside or Carrie with have both our heads off' He opened the door for her like a true gentleman and she couldn't help but smile, she didn't blush until she was up the stairs, and that is when she met one excited, fully ready, armed Carrie.

'Carrie…' began Rose, who started looking around the room. 'Why is everything attached to the floor, either directly or indirectly? ' Then she looked at what was in Carrie's hand and on the bed. 'And why do you have a hair straightener AND hair curler in your hand? And the cosmetics, I'm pretty sure the gross population of Luxembourg don't have that much.' All Carrie did was laugh.

'Rose, they're ALL for you, the eyeliner, mascara, foundation, blush, kohl, eye shadow, lipstick.' When she stopped Rose thought Carrie was finished, but when it became clear that she was just taking a breath Rose decided to interrupt.

'Umm, I don't think so. Are you trying to kill my hair, studies conducted prove that using it 3 times brings a noticeable difference to hair, in a bad way.'

Carrie looked dejected, but waved some eyeliner in hope, Rose cast that away too.

'You know foundation causes pimples.' This time Carrie wouldn't give in.

'You know you are well past the age of pimples Rose and seriously, can't you get dressed up this once?' This time Rose gave in.

'Fine, but only the essentials.' Seeing what Carrie "defined" as the essentials Rose decided what was the essentials, that sat down and calmly endured the application of the make up, the styling of hair, the accessories, torture. Looking at herself in the reflection she admitted she didn't look bad, and thought she could actually go through with it. But that was until she saw the dress.

'Oh my gosh, please Carrie don't.'

While Rose was having a freak out about the dress Oscar was standing outside of their room, twirling red rose in his fingers, meant for only one person. Attached to the rose was a small but cute card with the words 'A rose for a Rose' written across it. _It's now or never Oscar, just tell her what you feel. She deserves to know, she NEEDS to know_. He almost knocked on the door when he heard someone's voice drift through the crack of the door, he instinctively knew it was Rose and listened intently to what she was saying, and that was a mistake.

'Trust me Carrie, I don't think that even Oscar is worth this.' Once he heard those words he felt a stabbing pain in his side, after a few seconds he couldn't bear it any longer so he left their door and decided to wait for Carrie downstairs. **(A/N ONLY CARRIE O_O)**

… Back with the girls (continuing their convo.) …

'Oh my Gosh, please Carrie don't.' Carrie had plastered on a wicked grin as she presented Rose the dress, a pink, on the verge of red strapless dress that ends right above Rose's knees. Rose, as she suspected, was having a major heart attack about the dress. 'It's strapless, and pinky red, and, and…' Rose took a deep breath, and that's when Carrie interrupted.

'It's what, beautiful, dressy, formal, it's YOU, Rose, its made for you only, seriously, it was tailored specifically for you. Anyway what is the colour Rose in French? Pink.' Rose nodded than said:

'Carrie, I'm not the prettiest person in world, sure I modelled with Lorenzo Ferrago but looks just aren't me.'

'Rose,' Carrie sounded like she was serious for once, which was worrying 'every one deserves to feel pretty sometimes.'

'Fine, but will Daisy think, and Blane, and Frank, and Lenny, and Stark.' Then a thought struck her 'Oh my gosh, what will Oscar think.'

'Who cares what they think Rose, this is about YOU' after some thought Carrie added, 'Why such fear about what Oscar thinks anyway?' But one look at Rose answered the question, because no matter how many years of spy training she had, she knew she wouldn't always be able to hide the affection she held for friend, work colleague, fellow spy. Nothing would be able to hide the affection she held for Oscar, and now Carrie knew it.

'OMG' Carrie squealed, unable to contain the excitement from what she had just heard, or saw, whatever. 'You like him don't you, awww you guys would be so cute together.' She pretended to wipe a tear away from her. 'You're growing up.' Rose threw a pillow at her, but in such a way as to miss Carrie's make up and hair completely, and just hit her in the stomach. 'Hey!' said Carrie 'watch the face.' Then Carrie took the dress from Rose and began to walk around the room swishing it everywhere. 'Just imagine it Rose, swishing around in the dress, every male in the room staring enviously at Oscar, except the guy with me. Anyways, just picture you in his arms in front of ALL the M.I. units, ALL of them staring at you, watching your EVERY move, you make waltzing around the ballroom floor. You'd be able to hear a pin drop in the silence there is, cause they'd all be looking. At. You.' Carrie sighed dramatically, obviously imagining her fantasy, while Rose stood in pure silence, petrified at the very thought of that. When she finally found her voice all she could say is:

'Trust me Carrie, I don't think that even Oscar is worth this.' And with that she made her way running to the door, knowing that there was no way Carrie could get her in high heels when she heard Carrie mutter, almost in a whisper,

'Anything is worth it, that is,' Carrie turned to face her 'if you love him.' Rose sighed sadly and started to walk over to where Carrie was, already regretting that she told Carrie. Carrie on the other hand was having an internal party, she thought that Oscar liked Rose, and she meant LIKED liked Rose, she could tell on the missions. Every time they talked via intercom he was always happier. But finding out Rose loved him back was like icing on the cake. Then all of a sudden Rose tensed up, Carrie curious to know why walked to where Rose was and put her ear on the door, and what she heard disturbed her. Footsteps, but not just any footsteps, she had worked with him too many times to know his distinct footstep and Rose knew it too.

'Oscar.'

Rose was already attempting to open the door, but Carrie leaned on it.

'What do you think you're doing?' hissed Rose.

'You are not going out there dressed like that!'

'Does it seriously MATTER what I'm dressed like, he must have HEARD something.' Then something dawned on her 'he must of heard 2 things either he's not worth it or that I like him, well not like but lo-, you know what I mean. But I never said that out loud, you could tell by my reactions, so he must think I hate him. Have you ever teased him about us getting together?' Carrie nodded sheepishly because it was true. 'Well that guarantees it then, he would have thought you were joking about the 'love' thing. Anyways we whispered that.' Rose took deep breaths. 'He. Thinks. I. Hate. Him.' She looked at Carrie panicked. 'What do I do?'

Carrie just shook Rose. 'Get a grip Rose; I'll go down and talk to him and sort out. Without telling him you like him, just put on your dress and shoes.' And with that Carrie walked out the door leaving Rose to do the final touches.

…

Carrie walked down the typically designed grand stairway and saw Oscar at the bottom, looking away, looking agitated. So Carrie, forgetting about her stunning grand entrance, ran down them and decided to talk to him.

'What's wrong Oscar?' He looked at her with a look of disbelief.

'What's wrong, how can you ask what's wrong. You were there when Rose said it.'

Then he did a sarcastic laugh. 'Or aren't I worth you remembering.'

'Oscar!' said Carrie horrified, 'don't you dare say that. Maybe if you hadn't been eavesdropping on the conversation you'd actually get your facts straight. Rose…'Carrie paused, took a deep breath and smiled, remembering the conversation they had. 'Rose didn't mean it in that way…what she meant was-"

'I don't care what she meant, nothing can excuse what she said.'

'Oscar…'

'How can you defend her Carrie, after what she said?'

'Oscar!' Carrie's temper was running short, but Oscar still continued ranting on.

'Or do you agree with her Carrie, that I'm not worth it. Sure I had -'

'THAT'S IT OSCAR COLE' Carrie's temper had finally exploded. 'First you eavesdrop on a private conversation and jump to conclusions, but seriously I can't believe you'd said those things. You want the story I'll give you the story.' Oscar was a little taken back by the venom in Carrie's voice, the happy little girl now filled with anger. 'I've tried for 5 and a half years trying to get Rose to go a dance, formals, disco's this award ceremony, every year she declines. I've tried threatening, blackmailing, crying, guilt-tripping her, flattery, force, dares, pleading, bribery EVERYTHING, but she always says no. Then you come waltzing in one year, just telling her to come and she agrees. What I couldn't do in 5 and a half years you did in 2 minutes. Now the only moments away from the dance she's starting to get cold feet and starts to doubt whether "your worth it". I certainly wasn't but YOU are. But you decided to jump to conclusions, and now we have a seriously depressed girl up there freaking about whether she "hurt your feeling" when you're down here not even caring about what she's going through, clinging to self created fantasies that we are all out to get you!' Carrie took another deep breath, glad that all the tension built from Oscar's _'frenzy' _was finally gone. Oscar meanwhile was taken back, the last few lines replaying in his mind. _Now we have a seriously depressed girl up there freaking about whether she "hurt your feeling" when you're down here not even caring about what she's going through._ He looked Carrie in the eye,

'Is she seriously depressed?'

'Oscar, the only thing that stopped her from coming down herself was that she was only half ready and I promised her that I'd deal with it. It was mainly the promise though.'

'Wow.'

'Wow indeed.' And they remained in the silence waiting for Rose to come downstairs so that they could join the party.

…

Rose- for a girl who was freaking out about the fact that her one true love thought she hated his guts- took a long time to get ready. She slid on the dress with relative ease, and tied the silver high heel buckle on, but the main time consumer was her standing in front of the mirror. She had relied heavily on her wit, intellect and brains to get her far in life; dressing up was something new to her. She would continue to fiddle with the dress, to get the exact length, change the buckle hole on the shoe, but would always eventually get back to the one she started with. All this time hoping that Carrie had convinced Oscar that she didn't hate him, and that they would still be friends, and that was another reason she took her time. Thoughts kept flooding her head,

_Had she given Carrie enough time?_

_Could Carrie convince Oscar?_

_Will Oscar ever speak to her again?_

Soon she couldn't stand it, giving herself one final once over she walked out the room. But Rose wasn't the only one, her, Carrie and the hundreds of people that walked past the room, not one saw the sweet, little, innocent rose lying by the door.

…

**ROSE OSCAR ROSE OSCAR ROSEOSCAR ROSEOSCAR ROSOSCAR ROSOSCAR ROOSCAR ROOSCAR ROSCAR ROSCAR. YAY. This is a R/O (or as I like to say, Roscar) they are awesome and my FaV pairing.**

**I'm a lying cheating misleading inhumane, cruel evil girl. You have to find out who Agent C is later. Anyways Review and tell me what you think. Haha youu thought the title meant Rose not A rose **** BTW how do get those grey line thingy's to work on fanfic. Its so confusing :S**

**Have a happy delayed Easter **


	4. Conspiracy

**Hi, I bet you all thought I was dead. No I'm not so there will be no parties today. Yeah, anyways, you know how I said I had a major Aust. Geo assignment, well that turned into an Aust. Geo assignment, a commerce assignment, a Catholic studies assignment, an English exam, a science half yearly and a math exam. Yeah. I have a fun life. For all you R/O fans out there, this is…nice. Inspired to write by **_**'Sins of the Father'**_** the ONLY other Rose and Oscar FanFic. Seriously, where are you people?**

**Sorry if there is OOC (Out of Character if you didn't know, I didn't (Wikipedia is awesome)), but that is the result of M.I. High deprivation. I don't know how I survive. Anyway, without further adu…the story! **

As Rose was walking down the stairs Oscar was mind blown, if she was aiming for a grand entrance she got one. She walked slowly down the stairs, getting use to the high heels, each step added to the look amazement on Oscar's face. Carrie was internally squealing at the couple. Rose was scanning the area in earnest to see Carrie and hopefully a forgiving Oscar, the ironic thing was that as a spy she couldn't find them when they were in the most obvious place to look. Two people she did see and run too were Daisy and Blane, and they saw her too.

'Rose!' Exclaimed Daisy and Blane, they hadn't seen Rose for 5 years due to their mission, but during the lengthy period they had known her they had never seen her like this.

'Blane, Daisy, you weren't due back till next month, what happened?'

'Please.' Said Daisy 'Don't ask for details.'

'Wow Rose, I haven't seen you in years' said Blane with his accent _fick_ as always.

'I know, but like OMG you look so cute, not as good as me, but WAY cute.'

'Thanks.' Said Rose blushing like mad. 'Your mission in Arabia took years, what's happened between you two.'

'Nothing.' Replied Daisy and Blane simultaneously, both looking away embarrassed because of where the conversation was leading.

'So, where's your new team.' Asked Daisy

'They couldn't of been better than us.'

'They're…' said Rose, scanning the area for her two elusive teammates, until she spotted them. 'There.'

Rose dragged Daisy and Blane awkwardly through the crowd to Carrie and Oscar.

'Blane and Daisy, Carrie and Oscar. Carrie and Oscar, Blane and Daisy.' Announced Rose, eager to get rid of formalities so that her best friends will finally be acquainted. They all said hi and their was an awkward silence that followed, Rose wanted to speak to all 4 of them (one of them especially), but couldn't without ignoring the other 2. Then a spark lit in the fiery brain of hers. 'So Daisy, have you gone shopping with Carrie, its am experience worth death itself.' Then she muttered so quietly that only Oscar could hear 'I'd rather go through death than that thing again.' Oscar laughed earning him a confuzzled expression from Carrie, Blane and Daisy and a bright red blush from Rose. Rose literally shook herself out of her daze and continued onwards. 'Blane, did you know that Carrie won the martial arts competition for 5 years.' She turned to Carrie 'he won it the 5 years before that.' Those words seemed to break the ice and soon Carrie, Blane and Daisy were talking like best friends, whether it be on clothing (I mean seriously, who can beat Gucci?) or new martial arts moves (the Gogensky manoeuvre is like SO HARD!) they were deep in conversation, leaving Rose just where she wanted to be, alone with Oscar.

'Hey.' Had Oscar whispered that any softer it would not have been audible enough for even a trained spy to hear. But Rose heard, and she knew that no matter the circumstances she would always be there for Oscar, to hear him.

'Hey' Rose's response wasn't any louder. To the both of them the outside world seemed to have just left them during those few precious moments. They could no longer hear the heated discussion occurring between their 3 fellow spies 5 metres behind them, nor the dozens of other spies running up and down the stairs. It was just them. Rose and Oscar, the way it should be. Rose was standing on the bottom step, leaning on the banister, creating a height difference with Rose looking down on Oscar and him looking up. There was silence before Oscar had the courage to tell Rose the truth.

'I heard what you said about me.' He attempted to smile weakly, that didn't occur for very long, especially given the fact that pure agony just swept through Rose's facial features. _Such delicate features. _Rose started to apologise, but she couldn't find any words to fully show him the grief that she was going through.

'I'm sorry Oscar, it's just….What I mean is…When I said that what I really was saying is…' Oscar couldn't stand it anymore, if he didn't believe Carrie before, he did now, the behaviour of Rose, the anxiety she was going through, it proved Carrie's statement correct and it was hurting Oscar with each second that passed. He couldn't stand it anymore and so he took a step up and was standing right next to Rose, really close to Rose; but they didn't notice it. Oscar lifted his finger towards Rose's lips and shushed her.

'If you let me finish I was going to say that Carrie explained everything to me.' Rose's eyes enlargened to nearly double their size.

'She did? What did she say?' Rose's eyes were filled with worry, especially when Oscar started to smile. In his defence though, he couldn't help himself. Rose was there looking up at him like that, it wasn't humorous as such (though, if you think about it, it was kind of funny), she just ignited that type of emotion in him, a happy emotion.

'She started off telling me that I shouldn't have listened in your conversation because it was private and that I only heard part of it and so any facts I had gathered would be false.'

'She really said that?'

'That's in my words but in a nutshell, yeah.' Rose breathed a sigh of relief, but then Oscar continued. 'Then she went on about how I was able to get you to agree to come here and she couldn't and that I was only thinking of myself and not what you were going through.' Rose was in shock, was embarrassed and didn't know what to do during that speech. She looked down blushing hard out due to the last section of Oscar's speech. When Oscar finished however, she couldn't find the strength to look up at his green eyes without, once again, blushing. But then she didn't need the strength. Oscar cupped her chin and gracefully lifted it up until she was looking up at him, and once that happened he didn't let go, he still hadn't finished. 'Rose, anyways, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that, especially if they are in relation to you. You are one of the most kind hearted, loving, generous, bestest friends that a spy could ask for, or a guy could ask for' _If only our friendship could be more_ 'and I should have known you would do nothing to hurt me. I totally forgot about the pain you were going through, and I was just plain rude.' Oscar took a deep breath, hoping the answer was what he was hoping for. 'Do you forgive me?' Rose was looking at him with wide chocolate coloured eyes, not believing what she just heard. She slowly lifted her hand and removed Oscar's one from her chin. Removed, but never let go.

'Of course I forgive you. Anybody would be a fool if they didn't forgive one of the most kind hearted, loving, generous, bestest friends that a spy could ask for, that a girl could ask for.' Rose had a cheeky grin on her face, knowing she had copied Oscar word for word but internally she was thinking _If only our friendship could be more. _Oscar immediately started smiling, causing Rose to smile as well. So, for at least 3 minutes the couple stood there, holding each others hand, gazing into each other's eyes, smiling goofily, oblivious to the world around them and the world to the couple. They could have remained that way forever, but the trance that held them so deeply captivated was broken when Blane out a loud scream.

'AHHH! What the hell Carrie, you didn't need to perform the Herby manoeuvre on me NOW!' The trance was broken in an instant and they both let go and looked awkwardly away, blushing like crazy.

'We…umm' started Rose, but was to embarrassed to continue, so she just indicated where she wanted to go.

'Yeah, we should.' They both walked the few steps to the left and joined the group they had left. Their fellow spies hadn't even noticed that they were missing, but as soon as they saw them, a new topic of conversation emerged.

'Anyone up for nominations, besides me of course.' Said Blane.

'I am.' Responded Carrie, now knowing whom her competition was. 'For the most physically strong upcoming agent.' If Blane were drinking something, he surely would have spit it out.

'What? My competition is you?' Blane sighed and muttered to himself 'and you think you know a person.' With that, they all laughed- due to the fact that Blane had met Carrie less than half an hour ago. Once the laughter died down Rose decided she should add something to the conversation.

'Me too, but there is this Agent C guy who just came.'

'You mean you don't know who Agent C is?' Daisy's eyes practically burst from her head. 'Its…' And she was going to continue but Blane conveniently put his hand on her mouth. Daisy looked at him and immediately understood what he was doing, and they both smiled wickedly at Rose.

'Don't worry' began Blane, 'you'll love him.' Rose, Carrie and Oscar stood there, not knowing what to think of the couple and what devious things they were conspiring together.

'Who is he?' asked Rose cautiously. Carrie and Oscar also wanted to know, Carrie out of curiosity, and Oscar because the breathing restrictions that was caused, due to what they were implying, most commonly known as jealousy.

'Oh, he's someone new.'

'I know, but why now?' snapped Rose irritated.

'He found a flaw with the enemy in Arabia, MAJOR breakthrough with our mission, got us out of a dead-end and helped us finish the mission a fortnight earlier than planned.'

'Is that all?' Asked Rose, sounding uninterested, but in fact she was very worried. She had hacked into the M.I.9 unit's mainframe and knew the numerous struggles that they would encounter on the mission. It was a level A mission, no time limit, nothing unnecessary to complete it. Deadly.

Daisy's eyes gleamed with a thought and decided to finally spill the beans.

'So you want to know who Agent C is?' Rose and Carrie nodded eagerly, the suspense killing them, but Oscar decided to stay neutral, though the suspense was also killing him. 'I'll show him to you.' And with that Daisy and Blane walked away to hunt their elusive teammate down. Rose and Carrie looked at each other, shrugged and then linked arms excitedly, curious to see whom the mysterious Agent C was. With Oscar following at a close distance, the curiosity, eating at him too.

'So Rose' started Carrie 'what do you think Agent C stands for?'

'Well, from the conversation I can guarantee it is a male, and from the flimsy information we have of him I can only think of one thing.' Rose stopped to add suspense.

'Well what?' Carrie practically exploded.

'One word.' Said Rose, dragging this as far as she could.

'What?'

'Conspiracy.'

**Yeah, I lied. Again. I said that you would know who Agent C is. And I promise you will. Soon. It was supposed to be longer, but seriously, would you guys want to read 10 pages (on Word) at once? Is this THAT interesting? Review and tell me:)**

**P.S The next chappie is already typed up on the computer, I just feel extra cruel today.**

**P.P.S Sorry about the lot of talking, that was mean of me. And the smallness of it. Trust me, the next one is longer. Much longer.**

**P.P.P.S I seriously got to remember a disclaimer: I do not own M.I. High as sad as that seems x infinity. (That way I'll never have to say it again)**


	5. The Key word being Was

Rose and Carrie wondered slowly behind Blane and Daisy who started talking to a guy with blond hair. Familiar blond hair. _But not Oscar's type of blonde_ she noted _not the type where you want to run your fingers through it and feel the softness make every single one of your senses tingle._ The guy's back was towards them but Rose couldn't shake of the feeling that they had already met.

'Rose! Carrie! Oscar! Meet Agent C.' Announced Daisy. Then he turned around and Rose couldn't breathe, all she could do is continuously blink and hope he would go away. But he didn't. What he did do was the exact same as what Rose was doing, which Carrie, Daisy and Blane found quite amusing, and what Oscar found cute (well he found Rose cute). Finally it Rose who broke the silence.

'Hi Stewart, fancy meeting you here. It's a nice ball Daisy and Blane invited you too.' Stewart looked confused.

'They didn't invite me, the boss did. Though, I understand where you're coming from, you assumed they invited me because they invited you.' Then it dawned on Rose, though the fact Daisy announced him, as Agent C should have made it very clear.

'You're agent C, what, when did you become an agent? How did you find out? WHY WAS I NOT INFORMED?'

'Whoa,' said Blane, 'I'll explain. What happened was as we started doing this full time Stewart became to get more and more suspicious and the conspiracy theories were becoming more accurate we decided it would be more beneficial for us if Stewart became an actual spy.' Then Stewart realised something.

'Your Agent Rose, shouldn't be Agent Gupta, that would have made it obvious, but when it said Rose a thought it was an undercover name, you know an actual rose.' Oscar's fingers tingled when he realised he wasn't holding the note. Or the rose. That was meant for Rose. _I'll have to get it later_, he mentally told himself.

'Oh that,' laughed Rose 'well, your not the only one with conspiracy theories. I had a feeling that there was a mole in the M.I. units and so; to disguise my identity I changed my code name. It would be obvious that the code name is a last name, and as Gupta isn't a used last name, I changed it to my first name.'

'WHAT?' screeched Daisy, you mean while we were on the mission, our identities were being compromised'. Rose smiled guiltily.

'What?' said Stewart, 'I thought it was a conspiracy theory.'

'Yeah, about that, no one believed me so I was the only one who changed it, but luckily…' Rose started to smile, reminiscing of that event 'my team gave me the benefit of the doubt and used their holiday time to investigate. Long story short I was right...'

'As usual' whispered Daisy to Blane who snickered; Rose and Stewart on the other hand just ignored them.

'…they found the mole before she gave away any vital information, the only information she got was false info. I planted to use as bait.' Rose sighed 'no wonder we were able to defeat SKUL.'

'You defeated SKUL' exclaimed Blane, 'when? How? Were there any cool moves?'

'Yeah, my team…' Rose stopped, realizing what she had been doing subconsciously throughout the whole "_meeting agent C_" thing. 'MY TEAM! Oh my goodness!' She turned around, and thankfully for Rose they were right behind her.

'About time Rose, I was thinking I would have to wait for my dramatic entry all night' Carrie announced, and stepped from behind Rose in a VERY dramatic way. No one could deny that she now had her spectacular entry, meanwhile Oscar followed looking at Stewart with suspicious eyes, the walls that had been pulled down by Rose and Carrie, through the many years that they had known Oscar, were pulled back up. He didn't like Stewart one bit. 'Well Rose, aren't you going to introduce us' said Carrie smiling wickedly.

'Oh yeah' replied Rose, her huge smile at once was plastered on her face. 'Stewart, this is Carrie.'

'Wow. You have my last name.' Gushed Carrie. Stewart looked confused and Rose just laughed. _That's my laugh_ though Oscar as Rose explained to Stewart that Carrie was usually this random.

'And this Stewart' Rose stopped talking for a second as she stared at Oscar, the boy she loved so dearly literally took her breath away and looking AT him in the tuxedo melted her heart in a way that only people in love would understand. She took a deep breath and continued. 'This is Oscar.' Oscar wasn't sure how to act, he'd hate Stewart's guts but that would be pathetic, and so, for the sake of Rose, he just acted savvy.

'Saving the best for last are we Rose?' Stewart blinked a few times in quick secession, and looked confused.

'No, I'm pretty sure I was introduced first.' Oscar couldn't help but laugh, but soon noticed the way Carrie was looking at Stewart.

'Hey Rose, wasn't he the guy at you school, the one who you…' Carrie's eyes enlargened, but so did Oscar's, but they were directed at a certain Stewart's direction. In fact, he was looking at Stewart so hardishly that he didn't notice the quick glance that Carrie did at him; _he is so in love with Rose, it's almost not funny. Almost_. Rose was blushing like crazy and tried to change the subject, but there was no way Daisy would let that happen.

'OMG, what happened? You know the whole school thought they'd get together'

'No. You and Blane wanted everyone to think that would happen, you know, to distract the growing attraction that you two lovebirds had for each other. I worked with you guys, I think I would know.' Rose had bitter intentions when she said that, but hoped no one could hear it in her voice, no body did. But, that did lead to an awkward silence that not even Carrie could fill. That was until Daisy announced that Stewart should meet the M.I.9 operative working at the school during the time they went there was there finally a comfortable silence. Daisy, Blane and Rose were all smiling hard out, knowing the surprise that Stewart would have meeting Lenny Bickwall, their school caretaker. Carrie and Oscar were confused, having not gone to school during the talked about time period. But, they were even more confused when Daisy and Blane dragged Rose and Stewart away from the group that was formed. They were half way across the dance floor before Carrie and Oscar fully comprehended what happened.

'Are they running away from us?' questioned Oscar.

'I think the two lovebirds are trying to set Rose and Stewart up.' Replied Carrie not directly answering Oscar's question. The more Oscar compared the two options, the more he wasn't sure which one he preferred.

When Daisy and Blane had reached halfway to the other side of the floor where Lenny was located they stopped and smiled at each other. There was music playing and many couples (partners usually occurred in the spying field) were dancing. Daisy and Blane simultaneously let go of Rose and Stewart's hand.

'Ohh goodness,' swooned Daisy 'I love this dance, Blane would you give me the honour.'

'I'd be delighted Daisy.' And with that, he took Daisy's hand and was going to begin a classic waltz. The key word being was. Before they could begin Rose interrupted them.

'Firstly, Daisy, I know for a fact that you HATE Mozart and secondly what are Stewart and I going to do? I can't see Lenny and I have a feeling that you want to be there at the meeting.' Rose huffed, waiting for a response. Daisy was the one to respond

'Well, FYI I happen to love classical music,' she shook her head 'Arabia does that to you. Secondly, you are right, we do want to be there when Stewart meets Lenny so just dance with him until the song ends.' And with that, her and Blane waltzed away.

'The song lasts ten minutes' Rose muttered under her breath and then turned to face Stewart who was right behind her. 'So…'she started 'what do you want to do?' _Not dance, not dance, anything but dance._

'I wouldn't mind dancing.' _Damn_.

'Oh, okay then.' Rose lifted her hands and began to dance slowly, breathing deeply, concentrating on her actions. She attempted to make a conversation with Stewart. 'So Stewart, do they know about Anita?' Stewart blushed like crazy, cleared his throat then answered.

'No, why?'

'Because if they did then they would stop trying to get us together. I mean, no offence, but it would be a bit awkward.' Stewart started smiling.

'You feel that way too, I thought they were trying to get is together because you liked me or something.' Rose laughed out loud

'No, I like someone else.' Rose didn't realise her mistake until it was too late. Stewart's eyebrows rose high, spy curiosity in a frenzy.

'Oh really, who?' Rose was internally beating herself up about the slip of the tongue.

'No one.' She replied desperate to change the subject. 'So this Anita, do I know her?' Stewart nodded. 'Was it…' Rose paused for a moment eager to play the game 'Anita K. from the year above us?'

'Nope.'

'Is she a spy?'

'Yepp.'

'Anita Q from the M.I. 26 department?'

'No. If it was why do you think I would still be here with you?' _Ouch, that hurt_. Rose's face momentarily darkened.

'Do not tell me it is Anita D from the C.I.A who worked with you on the combined mission in China?' Stewart's face looked worried, he already knew about the tough relationship Daisy, Blane and Rose had with the C.I.A after the American president went missing.

'Yeah, so?' Rose just shook her head, he wasn't part of it and she wouldn't be responsible for dragging him into it, so they just continued their dance in silence. The multiple steps on his feet were considered improvements, so was the fact that she banged into a couple twice and she almost fell over once. Stewart had tried to stop her falling and managed to do it successfully, but not without putting Rose in some discomfort. Stewart was too tall and his grip on her was really uncomfortable, then again, dancing with him was uncomfortable.

'Ouch Rose' snapped Stewart

'Sorry for stepping on your feet it's just I -'

'Not that, I wore reinforced shoes.' Stewart leaned in close 'you never know what to expect in this business'. He straightened out and continued. ' Did anyone tell you that you have a killer grip' Rose immediately let go of his hand and examined it. Sure enough, it was red, with some fingers turning blue due to the lack of blood circulating to his fingers. This was all due to the grip of the mighty Rose. 'Seriously, I can't feel them any more.'

'Maybe we should stop for awhile.' Rose suggested. Stewart smiled and agreed, so for 5 minutes they stood in the centre of the floor waiting for feeling to return to Stewart's fingers. When they did eventually return Stewart suggested dancing with Rose immediately declined claiming she needed a drink. Stewart, being the gentleman that he was offered to get one for her. When he left her peripheral vision however, Rose bolted for the door to a place no boy would dare endeavour to. The ladies Room. Rose locked herself into a cubicle, slightly out of breath, not from the running however, but the pain and anxiety she had to relive, dancing in front of a crowd. _I'm so sorry Stewart, ditching you like that, but it was for your best interest. _And that is where Rose remained for the next ten minutes, and hopefully, the rest of the night.

Oscar noticed that Rose was missing the moment he spotted Stewart holding some water looking confused. He cursed Stewart for his naivety and ran away from the ballroom floor. He had been standing next to one of the two only exits, the one leading up stairs, so that left only one possibility, she went to the bathrooms. He muttered something unintelligible to Carrie and walked away at a fast-ish speed, he would have ran but he didn't want to alert any attention in his direction, because it would in some way hinder him in achieving his main objective: finding Rose. Be burst into the Ladies room, but luckily there were no females around; there was only one cubicle that was locked and he burst through it. And, standing inside was a depressed looking Rose, key word being WAS, now there was a confused and slightly freaked out Rose.

'Oscar, what are you doing here?'

'I was about to ask you the same question Rose?'

'It IS a ladies room, I'm allowed to be here.'

'Why aren't you at the dance, you have been missing for ten minutes.'

'So?'

'So go.' Rose's tough façade was starting to crack.

'I can't.' Oscar was confuzzled.

'You can, you just take 5 steps out, turn left for about 10 metres and volia.'

'No.' Rose shook her head, exasperated. 'I can't dance, not in front of everyone.' It was now Oscar's turn to shake his head, although when he did it he was smiling. He took a step forward. And Rose noticed. 'Oscar, what are you doing?'

'I am about to perform something that the ancient Persians did all the way back in 4000 B.C. It is believed to originate before then, but there is no proof.' Rose backed herself to the furthest part in the cubicle.

'What?'

'This.' And in one swift motion Oscar had lifted Rose up and placed her on his shoulder and began his procession out the female bathrooms, but instead of turning left, as Rose expected he turned right, towards the roof.

'Oscar, what the hell do you think you are doing?' Rose hissed, twisting and turning, but with no avail under Oscar's strong grip. She attempted kicking him, and punching him, but all he did was laugh. 'What?' Rose stopped, curious to know why he was laughing.

'Firstly, the more noise you are making is attracting attention, which I'm not sure you want. Secondly, I would like to remind you that you are currently wearing a dress, so all the kicking is lifting your dress up.' Rose stopped in defeat, which really wasn't to any gain because they had reached the top of the stairs and, more importantly, the roof. Oscar opened the unlocked door and dropped Rose gently on the floor. While he had his back turned, locking the door with a 'standard' M.I lock Rose was busy adjusting her dress, which in fact, was actually lifted up when she was kicking him. Oscar had turned around when Rose was doing the last touches on her dress. She looked up at him, and noticed he was looking at her with a smile.

'How do I look?' She asked, genuinely wanting an honest answer.

'Beautiful.' Replied Oscar, giving one. Rose blushed and avoided eye contact, making Oscar smile even harder.

'So are you going to explain to me why I am being held captive, against my will, on a roof, on an extremely chilly night?' They both knew that wasn't true, Rose could have knocked Oscar out, but she didn't. Oscar cleared his throat.

'I am going to teach you how to dance 5 different types of waltzes, the swing and possibly the fox trot.' Rose opened her mouth to protest but Oscar silenced her once again by putting his finger to her mouth. 'No complaints, now we will start with the Viennese Waltz. Your hand goes here and here, my hand is there.' Oscar muttered the last part to himself, a little flustered at the location of his hand. On her waist. Rose didn't mind though, all she could do is think about how comfortable his hand was there and how their hands fit together perfectly. They both tried to control their heart rate, which was a result to the close proximity between them, and when they felt they had accomplished that they looked up, into each other's eyes, and had the exact same problem all over again.

'Well…' asked Rose, begging for the silence to end.

'As the female, you have to follow my lead.' Said Oscar smirking.

'I'm all yours master,' said Rose, breaking all eye contact when she realised what she said, and how it could be misinterpreted, though even the misinterpretation would still be true. Oscar cleared his throat, it was becoming a habitual thing when he wanted her attention.

'Ready?' He asked.

'Ready as I'll ever be.' Rose muttered. And so, with a little bit of encouragement and a lot of leading by Oscar the love smitten couple started dancing.

**This is probably the worst chapter so far, but anyways. The action begins next chapter and yes, you guys were right, Stewart is Agent C.**

**I don't own M.I. High, but if I did Rose and Oscar would already be together. : )**

**People should update more, the Socceroos's should have won the world cup : (**


	6. Kovu, Kiara, Together? Part 1

At the advice of an awesome author (who I would never cyber-wack) the super duper chapter is now in two parts. To anyone who was dedicated enough to real the extremely long one, thank you. The scond part will be up soon, but until then...

* * *

They were technically dancing, but it was failing. Epically. It wasn't as if Oscar cared; because just holding Rose made him feel like the luckiest guy in the world – it was Rose with the problem. Sure she had been this close to Oscar, but this instance did not involve a mission- that made Rose a lot more freaked out, and clumsier. She shook her head for the umpteenth time. Her head was positioned in between her and Oscar looking downwards; whether she did so she could see her feet or so Oscar wouldn't she her bright red cheeks or the tears threatening to pour from her eyes she wasn't quite sure. What she was sure of, by the way Oscar slightly squeezed her hand every time she bumped into him was that she was hurting him. Over and over.

And over.

And she didn't like it.

She moved left and he moved right. She stepped on his foot with her heel and he hissed in pain. That is when it snapped. She looked up to his face to apologise but those words got caught in her throat. She had never looked up before that moment and so she had never been able to see the pain so clearly expressed in Oscar's face. Once Oscar saw her look up, his facial expressions changed instantly; his mask of happiness and a little sympathy for Rose was put up. But, he was seconds too late; Rose had already pulled away and started running towards the door. Fortunately for Oscar, due to Rose's vision being blurred thanks to her tears and the fact that she was wearing high heels he was able to catch up as she was unlocking the door with one of the numerous clips in her hair. The door unlocked, but the handle never was touched. Oscar knew that he was too close for her to escape, but he wanted so desperately for it to be her to decide to stay, so as she reached for the doorknob he said

'Wow. So what you said at in your room to Carrie was true. You both made me feel like a jerk for thinking you would be able to do such a thing but only two hours later you here doing it. And don't even say it's because of the ball because look around Rose. We are not at the ball. It is just you and me. Alone. Is this how little I mean to you?' The last part came out as a whisper, but he knew Rose heard him. She always heard him. He felt low for playing that card on Rose, but he needed her to stop. Rose rested her head on the door and sighed, but as Oscar taunted her further the emotional barriers came tumbling down.

'You don't get it do you,' the tears were streaming down her face by now but Rose didn't care 'do you think I like hurting you. Oscar I know you're in pain and I don't know if I can keep on going knowing it was me doing it to you.' Oscar felt like a bigger jerk than before. An undeserving jerk. She wasn't running away for her; it was because of him, it was to help him. Rose took his silence as a sign of him giving up. A sign of him giving up on her. She started to reach for the door but Oscar saw her and attempted to stop her again.

'Rose…' said Oscar in a last effort attempt. 'What about you, do you think that I like it. I practically forced you to come to this stupid ball, and I had to live the guilt and regret for the past week. Every time I saw you so depressed it felt as if I was the one injecting myself… and not with the chicken pox; it was as if I were purposely poisoning myself. Teaching you is benefiting me, it's sorta clearing my conscience. You stepping on me is nothing compared to the torture I went through for the past week. Please Rose…don't go.' Rose had stopped now and started to hesitate; her resolution of leaving was slowly fading and that's when Oscar decided to deliver the final blow. In a few long steps he had reached Rose and turned her around; and that picture would break his heart. Because there was a sniffling Rose; eyes glazed, tears streaming down her face, agony written all across her body. All Oscar could do is raise his hand and wipe away her tears and try to calm her down. When she had stopped crying he rested his forehead on hers, looked her in the eyes and whispered the words that he whispered less than 3 hours ago 'do it for me.' He lifted up his head to look at her; trying to decipher her emotions, trying to know what she was really going to do. Rose paused for a second; contemplating both options but ended up nodding her head and quickly burying her head in his chest. Oscar's breath quickly sharpened at this act; his heartbeat increased slightly from this small display of affection. But when it became clear that Rose didn't plan on moving he relaxed; his hands instinctively went to waist and his grip on her tightened possessively. One of those hands slowly rose up her back pushing her closer than she was, once it reached the intended destination i.e. her neck, he slowly started rubbing circles with his thumb. This, along with the uttering words of comfort on top of her head calmed most of Rose down, however the small part of the brain was ecstatic over this moment. She felt bad for crying in his arms, and inadvertently wiping her tears all across the shirt. What she was happy about was the fact that all the makeup Carrie had used was waterproof and nothing had spread his shirt. Rose had cursed at Carrie for doing that, as one of her plans was to start 'crying' and ruining her make-up. That would have provided a good get-away but now, in Oscar's arms, Rose had taken back every evil thought and hoped that Carrie would see the funny side of "certain" things tomorrow. What she also marvelled at was the way they fit, nothing felt out of place or awkward. He held her as if she was the most precious thing in his life, but what she didn't know was that it was true. Oscar could physically feel Rose calming down in his embrace, and he didn't know whether to be happy or upset. Because he knew, soon, she won't need his comforting hug.

'I'm sorry Rose; I shouldn't have said that just so I can guilt you into staying. You can leave if you want too.'

'Nah, I'm content here.' And by here, she meant with his arms wrapped around her, his hot breath sending tingles down her spine every time she felt it touch the top of her ears.

'Well, the door will always be open in case you want to leave.'

'Do you want me to leave? Can you not handle my dancing ability?' Rose said teasingly.

'You leaving is the last thing that I could possibly want.' _Telling you how I feel is the first. Actually that would be getting married._

'So then why are we having this discussion?' Rose looked up and smiled at him; all traces of the teary eyed lady from before was all but gone. Oscar smiled back and slowly encased her petite hand into his own larger one. He pulled her towards the centre where there was a lot of room for them to dance. They positioned themselves easily; barely containing the eagerness they held to be in each other's arms. They both knew that they would have to inevitably start dancing soon; but they both wanted that to be delayed just a little longer than possible.

'Slow, simple movements' said Oscar 'if it helps I will count out loud, but I'm pretty sure you don't need that. You just need to get over that fear of yours; whether it is a fear of dancing or dancing in front of people, whatever just ignore it.' Rose nodded, though fear was evident in her face. Oscar looked at her expectantly 'are you ready?'

'As ready as I'll ever be.' Rose's voice cracked a little, but she used all the strength she possessed to just mutter those words.

Oscar just looked at her for a while, but he was using all the strength he possessed just to refrain himself from letting go of Rose's waist and crushing her in a bear hug.

He used all the strength he possessed to stop himself from kissing away every fear and worry that entered the woman he loves head.

He used all the strength he possessed to just stand there while Rose went through the emotional turmoil that her brain had linked with dancing.

'Okay,' he muttered after a while, a little flustered for just staring at her 'in one… two… three…Rose!' She stumbled a bit, expecting another to be uttered from his lips. She looked up confused; they hadn't started dancing so she didn't know what she did wrong. Oscar sighed and shook his head bemused. '_Roze, darlin'_,' said Oscar in a foreign accent to calm her down '_zis iz dance between you and moi, no dance between your fee' and my fee'_.' Rose giggled at the poor attempt of the accent, she had seen him in action and knew he could put off that accent perfectly, but know he seemed to be emphasising it in a humorous way. Oscar smiled now and took her happiness and slip of concentration to pull her closer. 'I am serious Rose, you don't need to look at your feet, you need to look at me. Dance is like two people being united in spirit. They may be two separate individuals, but when dancing together they are one. We should be one. Dancing is also a team effort and you need to trust me to guide you.' Oscar paused for a second to let it sink in before asking 'do you trust me Rose?' Rose sighed and nodded

'Yeah'_ more than you know_. Little did she know Oscar had other motives for keeping her close, not that she would have objected.

'That's great, but I don't trust your dancing' Oscar said with a goofy grin 'maybe I should have started you off slow and gradually built up the difficulty. Sorry' he looked at Rose with pleading eyes, which looked quite idiotic with him failing to hold the smile down.

'I don't know if I can forgive you Oscar, you have wounded me and insulted me more than you could ever know.' Rose closed her eyes and placed her hand on her head in a dramatic way hoping that this display of humour will cover up the nervousness inside; it may be reducing with every moment she spent in Oscar's arms but she couldn't deny that it was there. The silence following was eerie, and when Rose opened her eyes Oscar looked deadly serious. He was just staring at her with his piercing eyes and when she looked once, she couldn't bring herself to look away. He brought his hand up slowly and moved a lock of her hair away from her face and behind her ear. He then left his hand there, fingers tangled in her strands but neither appeared to care.

'Rose, I am serious. You are the most important person in my life, without you life would cease to exist. You mean the world to me and I want you to know that from the inner most part of my soul, I am sorry. I would never want to intentionally hurt you and I want you to know that.' Oscar then leaned forward and whispered in Rose's ear 'do you forgive me?' Rose had to force the shiver that was threatening to go down her spine stay put. Oscar pulled back and looked her in the eye waiting for an answer. Rose looked him straight in the eye, put a serious face on and whispered:

'You acting is really good you know that.' With that the moment vanished. Oscar smiled at the lady in front of him and she just smirked back.

'Well, I try but clearly I wasn't good enough.'

'I have known you for too long to believe it.' But what Rose didn't know was that he did mean it. Every single word.

'Okay,' started Oscar 'we should stop procrastinating.' Rose made a face at that, but he continued 'do you know how to do the simple slow dance at a formal?' The shake of Rose's head and the sheepish look on her face indicated to Oscar that this is probably where they should start. 'All right, there are a lot of variations to this dance but for simplicity's sake we will still with the basic one. Your hands wrap around my neck like this…' Oscar than lightly held Rose's arm and moved them into position, but at once Rose recoiled her hand.

'Goodness Oscar, how much hair gel do you use, the entire tub? 'She showed him the unfortunate hand, which had the problem of touching his hair. He couldn't help but laugh as it shone in the starlight.

'What's wrong with the amount I use?' he asked cheekily.

'It's too much. Next time don't use as much, in fact don't use any at all.'

'Fine.' Little did he know, Rose had other motives for him having gel free hair, not that he would have objected.

'Pinkie promise.' Rose stuck her pinkie out and pouted. Oscar laughed at the child-like behaviour Rose was displaying and he noted that she was using that irresistible pout as he lifted his hand up to pinkie promise her. That was a fatal mistake, because the hand she so innocently stuck out for him to pinkie promise was the one coated in his hair gel. And now his was coated in gel too.

'Rose!' Oscar exclaimed as he whipped out his handkerchief to wipe his hands.

'What's wrong with a simple pinkie promise?' she said cheekily imitating him as she took the handkerchief from his hands. Oscar was about to retort something but stopped himself. All he did was tilt his head and smile at her as she handed it back.

'Don't I have a dance to teach you?' As those words left his mouth he saw Rose's face drop. 'Precisely' was his response to her silence. She looked pleadingly at him to escape this legalised form of torture but he shook his head in response. 'So anyways, your hand goes on my neck…'he smiled lovingly as Rose avoided his hair and then continued '…and my hands go here.' As he wrapped his arms loosely around her waist Rose immediately looked him in the eyes for comfort and he held her gaze. He smiled at her and she gave him a tentative smile back. 'Are you ready?' He questioned.

'Yepp.'

'Remember to look at me.'

'I will.' Rose rolled her eyes at him, but then added quickly 'but if I say that I forgot, will you do that amazing accent again?' she smiled and battered her eyelashes playfully. Oscar laughed at the comment but couldn't help but notice that dancing was now the last thing on his mind. Rose however, was on all of it.

'Come on, let's start.' Oscar smiled and shook his head, as if he were trying to shake out any thoughts on Rose out of his mind, needless to say it did not work. 'Just… follow my lead.' And with that, the couple soon started moving, complacent in each other's arms. Oscar was in fact softly counting, as he said he would, but he was primarily focusing on the woman in front of him. Her smile; enough to stop any man in their tracks. It was pure innocence, pure joy; it couldn't be forced or faked, which added to its beauty. Her wide eyes, looking at him with all the confidence and happiness she could possibly have. And, Oscar noted, the eyes are the window to the soul. He could physically feel Rose relaxing in his embrace; her arms, which were so tense around his neck had relaxed and were now resting on his shoulders. Oscar instinctively felt like they belonged there, on him…and not on some other blonde haired agent who knew and befriended Rose before he did; i.e. Stewart. Before long, Oscar stopped counting out loud; not that any of them noticed, they were completely, wholly engrossed with the other. They each occupied the others thoughts, their mind, their hearts. They were like two pieces of a puzzle; fitting together with ease, they were like oxygen to each other; the breath they breathe, the water they drink, the blood that coursed through their veins.

Oscar was the first to notice his trance-like state, just staring at Rose, and then he _really_ looked at her, noticing the small secretive smile and the way she seemed to looking at him while not really looking at him. He then noticed how the stars seemed to reflect in her eyes, making them shine and how… Oscar mentally hit himself; he was putting himself at risk of falling into that trance like state again. In fact, he couldn't help but notice he was half way there- not that he objected; he could stare at Rose for hours on end without caring, he just didn't want to look idiotic in front of her. He mentally resolved to not get distracted by her again and so he had to physically look away. This, however lead to him stumbling, the quick movement knocked Rose out of her admiring of him. Rose felt embarrassed to be doing that so blatantly, but she quickly observed, Oscar didn't noticed, didn't care or had really worked on his acting ability and was secretly repulsed by such an obsessive, stalker like friend. Rose hoped it wasn't the last, and as he smiled sheepishly to her she knew it wasn't.

'Do you want some advice Oscar, I'd be happy to provide some.'

'Pfft. I was just trying to boost your confidence, to show you that other people make mistakes too.' Rose didn't believe him and Oscar didn't want her to ask for the real reason so he asked the first question that popped into his head.

'So, what's your favourite movie?' Rose looked at him like he was crazy, and he didn't blame her. He could tell you it was the Bourne series because the "plotline is really intricate and the technology and methods used in it are just a touch short of something miraculous."

'Oscar,' Rose said slowly 'you know my favourite movie is Mr and Mrs Smith. I mean it is a perfect blend of romance and action. Perfect for a lady, perfect for a spy, perfect for me.' Now Oscar was dumbfounded, he knew everything about Rose and so he knew that wasn't true. Also, when he had previously asked her about it she complained that it was too clichéd.

'I thought it was Bourne?' He saw Rose's eyes enlarge, realising she had trapped herself. And that's when Oscar realised he didn't know everything about the women in front of him.

'You lied to me. I'm hurt Rose- I thought you told me everything, and yet you lie about something so trivial like your favourite movie. Honestly, it can't be that bad, I mean what is it, the Lion King?' the sheepish look on Rose's face told him everything he needed to know. 'It IS the Lion King. Really Rose; the Lion King?' He could hardly hold the laughter inside.

'What's wrong with the Lion King, it is an ageless classic.' Asked Rose defensively.

'There is nothing wrong with the Lion King; I just didn't expect it from you.'

'Well, it was my favourite movie when I was three, I would watch with my dad every day. He started calling me Kiara when I accidentally called him Simba instead of dad. My mother commented that my dad was in fact just like Simba; an over protective father who loved his only child. While I was mischievous, quick witted and brimming with energy-just like Kiara.' Rose drifted of wistfully, memories of her childhood flooding back.

'Really' started Oscar intrigued. 'Your family never seemed like that when I met them.'

'Yeah well' her expression dropped a fraction 'that changed when my other two sisters came into this world. They were good; but I became more distant with the parental units. My parent's expectations and treatment of me became different to the other two. However, the nickname stuck with both of us, and every year my dad and me watch it together in my birthday- it's like our "thing". I think he does it to show me that he still does love me and care for me; probably more than the others and that's why he pushed me harder. I mean we have our moments and he really does care about my life, he just has a funny way of showing it. But sometimes I wish our relationship was…different.' Rose stopped to take a deep breath; she never revealed intimate details like that so freely before and it was slightly relieving. That is until she realised whom she was saying it to. Oscar Dixon-Halliday; more commonly known as Oscar Cole. MIA father; evil mother at large; no other known relatives; traumatic past; the only family he had was 3 other individuals- Carrie, Frank and in a strange way Stark. 'And that's why it's my favourite movie, but you know, it's corny and they're family and everything…and you probably don't care about it, you most likely haven't seen the Lion King so it really pointless having this discussion.' Rose at this point had started rambling trying to get over the flustered feeling.

'It's cute _Kiara_' he said, teasing her pet name 'I've always been a Kovu. Evil mother, Dark and shady past, working on the good side, though I had a tough time being accepted. Just needing the Kiara in my life to show what life, what real love is.' Rose had no idea that by Kiara, he was referring to her. She had wanted him to mean her, to hold her in his arms like he was doing now and whisper sweet nothings in her ear. There is no doubt she wanted that, she just had a fear that she was reading too much into the conversation. She was afraid to hope.

'Oh' said Rose with a bemused expression 'I never saw the similarities until now _Kovu_' Oscar knew now he mentioned it the nickname would stay; but he would not have had it any other way. Because Kovu and Kiara eventually got together, and so he couldn't help but hope, maybe they would too. 'Let's just hope your Kiara's father won't be as tough on you as Simba was on Kovu.'

'Oh, I will be able to handle it.' Oscar was getting a little uncomfortable talking about his relationships, however nonexistent they were; especially when he wanted to speak to Rose about _hers_ and a certain someone called Stewart. This was unknown territory because no guy attempted to get with Rose when Oscar was around; and when he even wasn't near, Rose was never interested. But with some expert navigation he attempted to turn the conversation on her. 'But what about your father Kiara, he is not as bad as Simba.'

'Trust me Kovu, he puts Simba to shame; I mean my guy has to be perfect' Rose dropped her voice like she was discussing a secret 'he has a list.'

So…what's in your father's list of expectations for your perfect lion Kiara?' Rose laughed and decided to play along with Oscar.

'It's an extensive list Kovu, are you sure you want to know?'

'Blow me away.' With those words of encouragement Rose said the list.

* * *

_Wonder what's in the list..._

*duck behind table and waves white flag* I come in peace, I don't want to leave in pieces.

To all the people who read this, I am sooo sorry it took 8 months for an update. I seriously am. And I think I got more reviews for the last chapter than for any others so I am extremely thankful and remorseful.

But, in my defence, it was Santa Claus' fault. I was a good girl all year but he didn't send me a letter saying that I own 51% of Kudos productions (the creators of M.I. HIGH) and so I was seriously upset. Then I had to study during the holidays and e.t.c.

It was technically finished by the 19th because this story is officially 1 year old (and if you look at the first prologue, if it's this stories b'day then it's...). It didn't get posted however until because fanfiction is banned on this laptop and on the other laptop, it refused to let me sign in- 4 month later however I realised that if I used another program I could sign in hence this update. I seriously am sorry for the delays, so sorry that I haven't studied until I finished writing a 14 PAGE, 9,100 WORD CHAPTER. Was tempted to cut it in half but decided not to. Ask someone's opinion and they said I should so this is only 4500 words of it. If you've already read the realllly long chapter, the second section (my personal fav.) will be coming soon.

A short preview for anyone who can completely finish the paragraph that the title comes from in a review(exclamation marks need to be included) :)


	7. Kovu, Kiara, Together? Part 2

**Sorry about the delayed addition... got a little distracted.**

_'It's an extensive list Kovu, are you sure you want to know?'_

_'Blow me away.' With those words of encouragement Rose said the list._

* * *

'Well, he has to be smart, not necessarily a genius but smart enough to be able to have a decent conversation with him without my father needing to 'dumben' himself down. He also needs to have a broad knowledge on most things and have to be firm in his opinions. It is supposed to add spark in the relationship, but he can't be too stubborn as to put our relationship in jeopardy because of conflicting beliefs. He should also major in languages and history; if he did math and science he would be a duplicate of me and with my competitive nature, we would constantly be at our wit end's trying to beat each other.' Rose smiled sheepishly. 'But there are a few things that top those; he has to treat me as an equal, he can't treat me in a degrading manner because I'm a "woman" but he also can't feel daunted because I'm a genius. He can't take me and my knowledge for granted; he has to respect me, and like me for me. He has to love me more than life itself and cherish any time he has with me. He has to be my best friend, my lover, my soul-mate' Rose thought for a while before adding 'Oh, my small addition is that he has to also be a spy, I don't think I would be able to handle lying to him all the time. There are certain things that I can only tell you.' Rose freaked out with that slip-up. 'And Carrie, and any other person in this business.' They danced slowly before Oscar spoke.

'Wow. That answers the question to why you've never had a relationship; it is impossible. They would have to be perfect.' Rose looked up at him and smiled; Oscar felt his heart melt slightly before whispering in a deeper voice 'not that you deserve anything less.' Oscar attempted to smile at her meanwhile thinking to himself that he had no chance. Not that he believed he had a chance anyways, in his eyes Rose was perfection in human form and Oscar didn't feel as he deserved such an awesome woman as a friend or potentially something more. He could see Rose tilt her head thinking about what was running through the blonde's head in front of her. Before Rose could figure out a logical reason for Oscar's sudden silence he said something that caught her off guard. 'So I guess you're planning to stay single for the rest of your life then, there is no one that would be able to do that.'

'I wouldn't be too sure about that. There is someone I can think of' _There is you. But that would mean you would have to actually love me._

'Oh really, who?'

'My lips are sealed.' Rose moved her hand off his shoulder and did the motion of zipping her lips and locking them. Once she did the movement, she felt weird and immediately put her hand back. She felt as if it belonged there and Rose couldn't handle the uncomfortable feeling. Oscar couldn't help himself. After laughing at Rose's extravagant and unnecessary display of silence he couldn't help but quip:

'Poor Stewart, he's into science and technology, that means he has no chance with you. One small mistake and he misses out on an eternity of happiness.' Oscar said that with a smile on his face to make it seem to Rose that he was joking, but he couldn't have been more serious.

'What makes you think Stewart even had a chance?' Rose said that with a sly smile on her face; the game Oscar noted was definitely on.

'Ohh come on Kiara, I saw the way you looked at him. Awe, shock, you tried to act calm while your heart was just a flutter of emotions. And Blane, a close friend to both you and Stewart couldn't help but notice the sparks.' _Deny it, deny it!_

'Oh Kovu, so naïve. People in love only want to spread the love around and set off to make to unsuspecting people as happy as they are, Stewart and I were poor innocent victims in that game. 'They both couldn't hold in their smiles now. Oscar was smiling because she denied it and Rose smiled because her love for Oscar overcame her fear of dancing, and now they were dancing as gracefully as a swan.

'So… you didn't have a crush on Stewart before.'

'I'm not at liberty to say.' Rose did in fact have a small crush on Stewart, but it lasted only a few weeks. He was the only one she could have an intellectual conversation with; she didn't feel like a freak around him. But, once she found out that he liked Daisy just because she looked like one of his video game characters, that attachment was lost. She felt disgusted for a few days, thinking about how superficial all guys were until she saw how Blane was around Daisy. He didn't like her on her looks, but he liked her and wanted to get to know her; baggage and all. Then, during the fashion show Lenny told them that the deciding vote was Stewart. Blane then commented on the fact that Rose won and not Daisy even though it was blatantly clear that Stewart had a crush on Daisy. Daisy retorted saying that she could have won if he didn't change his vote, then she complained saying Rose had the advantage because she didn't need to create her outfit in textiles. Rose spent hours thinking about that; here you have the most superficial competition, a girl with a clear advantage and yet for a moment Stewart decided to choose someone else. That's when Rose snapped out of it and didn't give up on guys, this resolution strengthen when she met Oscar.

'Really, why?'

'Classified.' Rose had a sly grin on her face by now.

'What about Scoop Doggy? I've seen interactions between you too. In fact, if I remember correctly you almost revealed your identity as a spy to him. And you so nice to him when he clearly didn't deserve it.' Oscar did indeed remember correctly as that memory was etched in his brain. He could not remember a moment in his life where jealousy had bubbled in his body more strongly than at that time. He hated any interactions those two had but had never manned up enough to ask about it. Scoop had been long forgotten by the pair of them until the reunion, it seemed that Stewart wasn't the only student from St Hope's that Rose saw; he was just the only one she spoke too, and then green eyed monster called envy bubbled up inside Oscar again. Rose, however, just stared at him with a bewildered face. Then she spoke.

'Excuse me… I just need to…' Rose then covered her mouth with her hands, left Oscar's embrace and ran to the end of the roof where she leaned forward and took deep breaths. Oscar couldn't stop the satisfied smirk come to his mouth when he saw that reaction. A few minutes later Rose returned to him with an irritated look on her face. 'Did you want me to throw up, I mean me and…' Rose involuntarily shivered '…him. Oscar I'd expect that from anyone-but not from you.' She now looked slightly hurt 'why would you even suggest that?'

'Sorry, it just slipped out. I mean…I was just…the reunion that you went to brought back memories…' Oscar felt ashamed for continuously asking about Rose's relationships, but the feelings he had for her were too strong to contain.

'Whatever. As for why I was so nice to him when you clearly weren't. It was because he reminded me of Daisy. I stereotyped Daisy like all other blonde haired bimbo's; popular and lacking in all types of potential. I disliked her and the way she made me feel but then, on a mission, she revealed that I was the only one she trusted. I felt so bad, I treated her awfully- in my defence she treated me just as badly- but I saw that under her façade, she didn't really fit into the stereotype. I dismissed her like that but she proved to be so much more. A smart girl, a cunning mind, very loyal, and my first friend' Rose had drifted into a whisper at this point, but she realised and strengthened her voice 'Then she left and I met Scoop, I dismissed him just as easily as I dismissed Daisy, but this time I stopped myself. I refused to treat him the way everyone else did. I wanted to find the real Scoop Doggy, and then make my judgement. He and Daisy paralleled on so many levels; but that time I didn't make the mistake and realise it later on. Is it so wrong for me to be nice? If I show someone one ounce of compassion why would you automatically 'pair us up'? Can't I be kind without having an ulterior motive?' Rose huffed, annoyed about how many times he asked her about a guy. She made it so blatantly obvious that it was him that she fancied, yet with every single guy that she knew, he asked if they had a relationship. It was as if he wanted her to say yes to one of the males, as if he didn't want her for himself. _Of course he doesn't want you; you have been deluding yourself for far too long for even thinking there was a chance._

Oscar was a little shell-shocked; he probably had found out more intimate details on Rose during that night then at any part of their friendship. She would always brush off any attempts with a smile and a joke, but Oscar noticed that them dancing made Rose much more vulnerable than ever before; he couldn't help but compare her to a porcelain doll- so fragile and yet so beautiful, sculpted to perfection. Without realising what he was doing he stopped the dance. He lifted Rose's hands off his shoulders, but she seemed to know what he wanted. She instinctively lowered them a little and wrapped them around his chest and curved them up his back so that the tips of her hands were resting on his shoulders. Oscar pulled her slightly closer, pushing her head on his chest. She rested her forehead on it, showing that she was still a little irritated, but she was compliant with the adjustments so Oscar wasn't hated, he just wasn't liked. He got his own hands and wrapped them around Rose like a big bear hug. Thinking back, Oscar didn't know why he did that, he just felt that Rose needed to be shown compassion herself, he felt she needed a hug. And he was right.

'This is another variation of the dance; the bear hug dance or as I like to call it the "I'm sorry for tonight, and for hurting you, and for offending you and I hope that you will forgive me" dance.' When Oscar heard a soft giggle, a small ember of hope was lit in his heart. 'Do you forgive me?'

Rose knew him for a long time, and unlike the previous time he asked for her forgiveness she knew he was serious. And so was her response. 'Of course I forgive you. If I don't, I'd just be walking around with a void in my heart, a void that can only be filled by you. My best friend… Kovu.' The last sentence of that was added as an afterthought, but the entirety of it was the truth; Rose didn't think she would be able to _not_ forgive him. Especially now, after he just kissed the top of her head and whispered thank you. She hated to admit that for a while, when she was filled with an overwhelming joy, she forgot why she needed to forgive him. She relaxed slightly, adjusting her head so that she was closer to the man she loved, turning it to the side and resting her cheek on his chest. Neither knew how long they swayed in that position and neither cared, because that was the only place they wanted to be. After a while Oscar could hear a sound, he could feel small vibrations on his chest, and he was pretty sure he knew what it was.

'Rose…are you singing?' He felt her nod against his chest and could imagine the blush that would be spread across her face. Her cute face.

'What type of dance is it if there is no music?'

'Touché. However, if you are going to sing, sing louder' Rose, who was feeling extra bold after the events of that night complied.

In a perfect world, one we'll never know

_We will never need to face the world alone_

_We can have the world, we'll create our own._

_I may not be brave_

Oscar smiled at the irony if the lyric, Rose was a spy- a job one cannot take lightly- yet she was singing about not being brave.

_Or strong_

He had to bite his lip at that line; he had bruises to prove that false.

_Or smart_

He couldn't hold the laugh at that; he was holding one of Britain's most advanced technological savvy geniuses, and she sang that line- if that was true the rest of the world had no hope. Rose herself couldn't stop smiling, she loved that movie, she loved that song she loved the man holding her so tenderly…the man laughing. But she couldn't help but enjoy it, every time that laugh escaped from his lips his chest moved, pressing against her. And every time that occurred, it felt as though a volcano was erupting inside of her, somewhere only active for Oscar, located in her own secret heart for him.

_But somewhere in my secret heart I know, love will find away,_

_Anywhere go, I'm home; as long as you're beside me_

_Like dark turning into day, somehow it'll come true_

_Now that I have you, love will find a way_

She had honestly thought that the song would end there; never in her wildest dreams did she expect Oscar to sing Kovu's part, let alone know it. Her head automatically went up and looked at him, and she didn't look away. There was something about his eyes; they have enslaved her heart in a completely different way. By the time the chorus came, they both sang together, both finding the lyrics oddly relevant to themselves; after all Oscar had never had a family, never had a home until he met his Kiara. While Rose knew that while she would never have to go through anything alone because she always had her Kovu beside her. By the time the song had ended, they were slightly out of breath due to the intensity of which they sang to each other, the passion so clear to only themselves. The song had ended long ago, but the moment had not. But once they caught their breath, that's when they realised the place of their hands; Rose's had slowly travelled back up his chest and around his neck, while Oscar's went down to her waist; holding her closer and rather possessively. They both blushed at the sight and the tension was thick until Oscar smiled and uttered something.

'So I guess that is a yes to the "am I forgiven" dance?' Rose laughed lightly slapped him on the chest.

'I already said you were forgiven.'

'Ahh, but actions speak louder than words'

'You want to quote people now' Rose asked, eyebrows raised 'well what about that 16th century Italian philosopher who said…' And so they quickly resumed into their playful teasing of each other; both noticed that Oscar's grip hadn't loosened and that Rose was twirling the few strands of Oscar's hair that he didn't intoxicate through over-gelling his hair. Both noticed-neither cared.

Had their interactions through the night been viewed by a random stranger they would immediately think they were flirting, had it been viewed by colleagues or friends of Rose and Oscar they would assume they were just playfully bantering with each other. After all, Rose had never been in a relationship before and Oscar didn't even come close to it. He built up walls to his heart and only a few people had gotten through one of which had unknowingly imprinted themself onto it. If it was viewed by their closest and bestest friend i.e. Carrie, however, it would have been obvious that those two were very much in love and didn't know the other reciprocated the feeling. They assumed all close relationships were like this; both did not fully comprehend the special connection that they had with each other. After a while the conversation died in playfulness and they just danced silently until for a split second, Oscar felt Rose tense up.

'What was it Rose?' Concern oozed from every word spoken by Oscar and Rose felt a little guilty.

'It was nothing Kovu, don't worry about it.' She tried to make light of the situation, but Oscar wasn't convinced.

'Rose?' He implored her with his eyes, the wounded puppy working its magic. Finally she caved.

'It was nothing; I thought I heard a helicopter some…' Rose tilted her head to do the calculations '3 kilometres away travelling at 30 kilometres an hour, so it would reach us in 6 minutes…if it was going to reach us, but it's not because I am being paranoid and we are in London for goodness sake, so there are definitely going to be some air devices flying around, especially tonight. And this dance has got me really on edge, not to mention the fact that…'Rose forcefully stopped herself, afraid, for the third time today, she had revealed too much. She could see that Oscar was curious to see what she was going to say, but he wasn't going to be too inquisitive…not after their last argument. Anyway, she couldn't finish it- the ending was _'…I'm dancing with you, like this, and my heart is beating at a million miles per hour and…gosh I love you Oscar_' and there was no way in heaven or on earth that she would be able to muster the courage to say that, not after being so vulnerable before. The rejection itself would kill her, the looks and awkward moments between them afterwards would just prolong the death. She looked up at him and his perfect-ness…no, she couldn't finish that sentence. Not tonight.

'But what about you?' she questioned 'you've been tense for a while…I noticed before but it just never seemed right to bring up.' Oscar flinched, and almost avoided the question completely until he remembered all the questioning he had done to her. And so with a deep sigh he answered.

'I thought I saw my mother, three times: once as a random stranger walking outside the hotel when you were getting your 'breath of air,' once as a waiter and also as one of the spies. It seems that it doesn't matter what I do or how long I've been a spy, she just seems to haunt me wherever I go. I can't seem to escape my family.'

'Don't you like Carrie or Frank or Stark or even me?' Rose seemed genuinely hurt at his last comment.

'Of course I do, but you're not-'

'Don't you even say it Oscar Cole' that hurt was quickly replaced with anger. She manoeuvred her hand and pulled his neck so that his face was only millimetres from her own. 'We are your family, we may not be genetically related, but just because your DNA is similar to someone, it does not make them family. Family are the ones that you cherish the most, the one's you turn to when situations become too much to handle. The one's that you love wholeheartedly, the one's you would gladly stand in front of a bullet for. I don't know about you, but you are part of my family, I can only hope that I'm apart of yours.' The anger had died down, and all Oscar could see was her original hurt. He rested his forehead on Rose's and just stayed there for a minute or so. He then proceeded to look at her face, memorising every detail once again before moving his forehead off hers and told her the thing that has been going through his head for that time.

'Kiara, you are a part of my life, your impact is more than you could ever fully comprehend. I know that I sometimes seem out of line and wrong but you are always there keeping me grounded, you help me deal with things any normal person wouldn't be able to deal with.' Oscar sighed, defeated, before continuing 'you don't make up my family, you _are_ my family. Well, most of it anyways.'

Rose couldn't stand it anymore, the pressure building up inside of her was unbearable, and she did not know how she was able to be in such a position without revealing her true feelings to the man who was holding her. The pain of _not_ doing anything, the pain of _not_ revealing her feelings to him was mounting; however the fear of actually telling him that she loved him surmounted that. So she did the only thing she could think of; she stopped the dance, went on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. Oscar felt heat spread rapidly in his body from that spot, he felt his heart beat faster and all that he could do is look at her face, in her eyes. Rose wasn't planning on looking him in the eyes, but once she did she couldn't look away, she saw a look in his eye, something that she saw very occasionally, something she could never explain. That look however, pierced her very soul. She couldn't stand it anymore so she whispered

'I'm sorry... and...Thank you' Rose was struggling to create cohesive sentences, staring into his eyes was something that wiped her mind clean. She could see confusion slowly slipping on his face and so she tried once again to think of a way to finish the sentence, but once he tilted his head, Rose's eyes dropped a fraction while she blushed. And then she saw something that was more distracting then his orbs of beauty. She had to force herself to look away and look him in the eyes, but it seemed that her own had a mind of their own. 'Thank you...thank you for...for...' Rose was earnestly trying to finish that sentence, but she couldn't think straight as all her senses were in overdrive. Rose bit her lip, partially in frustration for not being able to finish that sentence and partially because, although she tried to look him in the eyes, every so often they would drop just a fraction, and the temptations associated with that distractions were intensifying rapidly. The amount of times she would look was frequently increasing and she found it getting harder and harder to look away. In her defence, Oscar was suffering from the same condition, and Rose biting her lip the way she did was not helping him, it was just burying him further and further in this overwhelming feeling of love. He couldn't stop himself from wanting to caress those lips, to be the one biting in pleasure. He honestly didn't care if Rose finished her sentence, to be truthful, he didn't know what she was talking about, he just loved hearing the sound of her voice.

Subconsciously, Rose pulled his neck a little closer to her own face, in her haze noticing that it was tilted at the perfect angle. Oscar was subconsciously pulling her petite waist closer to his body, the slightest touch from either spread heat throughout themselves. With only millimetres left, Rose abandoned all sense of restraint that she had. Their proximity tore down the small strands of logical reasoning that she was amazingly able to contain. The temptation was too much for either to overcome; they stopped trying change destiny and decided to embrace it. Oscar didn't even try to hide his eagerness, he stopped attempting to look at her eyes but looked constantly at another part of her face. A part that was coming closer with every passing second. Fractions of a millimetre left, Rose felt her eyes flutter closed, knowing that she could not look at anything that would be able to match the perfection to come. She knew she would feel fireworks, but she wanted to see them as well.

Had they been given a moment more their lips would have collided and the feeling of unadulterated bliss would have washed through them both. That followed by the realisation that the other had not pulled away, would cause that kiss would intensify. They both would have released the momentous amount of emotions that had built up over time. Oscar's hands that had been holding Rose possessively would have pulled her closer than humanly possible. He would have relished the feeling that was overcoming him at that moment, knowing she was feeling the same thing. Rose would be running one of her hands through his hair; the fact that is hair was covered in an abnormal amount of hair cream would be irrelevant because she had been dreaming about this moment for so long that she didn't care about it. That hand in his hair would be pushing his face closer to her own because she would have the strangest feeling that the nonexistent gap between them was too large. Her other hand, however, would lower slowly and slide in underneath his jacket, hugging him closer, revelling in the euphoric high that only he could give her. The sparks that originally flew when they first touched would soon turn into a magnetic attraction; too close wasn't close enough. The fireworks would become a burning fire, increasing with every second, already engulfing them whole.

They would have then pulled away, breathless because of what just took place. Oscar looking into Rose eyes, shining so bright that it would have but a light bulb to shame, He would have looked at her smile, so beautiful that it would have enticed him to kiss her once more. But instead he would have confessed his undying love for her. He would have told her things that he had wanted to tell her since she found out about his history. That he knew he didn't deserve her but he although he tried to fight it, he still loved her with all his being. That he could never complete her father's list but he would try earnestly to win over their approval, somehow. That although he just recently became a Kovu, she was always his Kiara. Rose would by then have tears running down her face, not tears of sadness but rather tears of joy. Oscar would lean forward, and starting from her eyes, softly kiss those tears away, whispering between each kiss that he loved her. Once he got to the corner of her jaw, her breath would hitch and she would whisper how much she loved him. He would then place a lingering kiss on her throat as the trail of tears would have already stopped. He would feel her nails grab his neck because of that kiss and he would be really thankful that he does use a lot of hair gel as it made it nearly impossible for her nails to pierce his skin. She would mumble that the feelings she has for him aren't natural because she is pretty sure most people don't feel so ecstatic over a simple kiss. He would then look up and smile wickedly at her. And just when Rose thinks that the moment is over, he would start again on the other side of her face. Had they been given that moment longer they would have had a night of pure joy and love; the entire reason for the night and their time up on the roof, surrounded by stars would be forgotten. Had they just been given that moment longer.

But that moment however, never occurred.

_**The action begins...**_

*insert smiley face* see, I told you I'd update soon. That distraction from earlier... if I reach 20 reviews you'll found out.

So anyways, some random facts.

- You are born with the ability to smile.

-You use more muscles to frown, when compared to smiling.

- reviewing makes me smile. And I like to smile.

Please let me smile.

Please.


	8. The Action Begins

_Had they been given that moment longer they would have had a night of pure joy and love; the entire reason for the night and their time up on the roof, surrounded by stars would be forgotten. Had they just been given that moment longer._

_But that moment however, never occurred._

* * *

What did occur, however was a white light flashing on the pair, a light that_** would **_blind them both with the powerful beam, leaving the sight of their beloved as the last thing they would see... for a few minutes at least.

The sound of a helicopter above them first alerted Oscar to the fact that it would be a wise decision to open his eyes and see what was disturbing this perfect moment. The first thing he saw was the closed eyes of Rose, which upset him quite severely; it led him to misconception that she was not consensual to the kiss that would have occurred if the interruption had not. Rose then opened her eyes, curiously wondering why their moment hadn't happened yet, and all she saw was the disturbed face of Oscar, which broke her heart more than any method of death (a list compiled by Rose for her Doctorate in Espionage involved 431 ways of death that involved piercing the heart). And that is when the light shone; against all logic Oscar pulled Rose closer to him, to protect her from any evil that would face the pair. If he was being any more observant than at that point he would have noticed Rose's cold hands drop to his chest and hold him more closely than she knew she could.

He didn't notice it however, neither of them did. All they knew is that Rose was right. A helicopter was heading towards them. It stopped in front of them. Men were sliding down ropes, and they were dressed for a fight. All in all it was rather simple to explain. The ball, the ceremony, the couple's discreet escapade to the rooftop for some dancing lessons.

It had all been compromised.

In total three men and one woman had dropped to the roof below, and were walking confidently towards the pair. Rose and Oscar instinctively went back to back and braced themselves for a fight; before the attackers had reached them Oscar heard Rose curse and bend slightly. Knowing it would be idiotic to turn and see what she was doing he whispered the question. His response was a ripping of material and comment saturated in sarcasm.

'Oh life is _**so**_ much more easier being a lady.' He smiled when he realised that Rose had to rip her dress in order to fight more easily.

'Carrie's going to flip when she sees what you've done to the dress.' Oscar could feel Rose shrug her shoulders.

'She's gonna flip when she finds out there was a fight when she was stuck in a stuffy room filled with…' Rose shuddered before continuing '…dancing.' The attackers were closer now, and as if it had been previously arranged, the three bulky men walked menacingly towards Rose while the lady smirked lightly and waited for Oscar to make the final move. He knew that it would be impossible for Rose to battle three people simultaneously while being back to back with him so with a heartfelt whisper of good luck he walked to the woman. Rose –as if telepathically- knew that he was leaving so, planning the move to perfection, swung her leg (narrowly missing Oscar's head – not that he noticed) around and kicked the man on right in the neck. Now that wouldn't have necessarily knocked him out, but with the added bonus of Rose's high heel cutting into his neck he was out for the count. This provided an advantage for Rose because the force of her kick pushed the guy towards the left… right into the awaiting arms of Rose who caught him quite easily. His fellow companions were left with a dilemma: - attack Rose and risk hitting their mate or pausing and giving Rose a chance to come up with a plan. Their moment of hesitation gave Rose a chance to look back and see Oscar take off his jacket and face the lady. Rose bit her lip and made her decision. Throwing their companion at them, she ran off to a corner of the building: it would limit the range in which she could be attacked but more importantly it gave Oscar the room he needed, 'cause by the look on his face when he saw his opponent he would need it.

Oscar walked to the female, curious to why she sought him out specifically, but once he saw her face he knew why, and his curiosity, that turned into sickness.

'What do you want?' he spat out, refusing to dignify her with any amount of respect; not that she deserved it.

'Aww Oscar, aren't you happy to see me. And after I came all this way to see you. I'm hurt.' The woman faked a pout, something so artificial it was nauseating.

'What. Do You. Want?' He had stripped off his jacket, and at that point was circling her slowly.

'I want you Oscar, I gave you an option but now I am so tempted to take you.' She dismissed the thought that passed through her head, wondering why he had stopped circling and resumed talking. 'And when have I ever resisted my temptations?' The smirk that Oscar desperately wanted to wipe off her face all those years ago was back… and so was that urge. But conquering all his urges was his desperation to know that Rose was safe; she was outnumbered 2:1 (how she knocked out the other guy in less than 3 seconds he'll never know) and seeing the size and movements of the two men, they were definitely people that would be a tough match, even for Carrie. And as much as he wanted to listen to **her** rattle on –note the sarcasm- Rose was, and always will be, his first priority. He glance for a few moments to locate her, and while a small part of him was amazed at the way she was defending herself despite her limitations, the major part was distressed because she was in the corner of the roof – having only 1 metre and a small knee length boundary preventing her from falling 6 storeys and hitting the floor below. He forced himself to look back at her and attempt to listen because every moment in which he was distracted meant a moment where she could get the upper hand. Every so often however, he would glance towards Rose, every look longer than the last. She tilted her head, curious to what he found more energy consuming than her. One look around however explained all that she needed to know.

The silence was more deafening than her voice.

'What?' said Oscar gruffly, putting his hands in his pockets and trying not to look like the embarrassed man he was.

'Oh nothing' she quickly dismissed, the ever growing smirk still continuing in its pattern. 'I was just wondering how long it would take for you to stop paying attention to your wifey over there and look at me.'

'My what?' One look at his face told her everything she needed to know.

'Oh sorry_, girlfriend_. Whatever… I just never thought you'd be afraid of commitment. I wonder why?' And that's when it snapped. He couldn't stand her and her pompous arrogant conceited smirk. He aimed a punch at her head, and with such force so that her only way of defending herself was ducking slightly and using his momentum to throw him over her small body. It was a rather a poor shot but it accomplished what he wanted. Because although she didn't know it he was never supposed to hit her.

'Come on, or are you _that_ old.' Oscar smirked triumphantly and backed away slightly. Towards Rose. Because he knew that if anything were to ever happen to her he would either kill them all which would not be great for interrogation purposes (unless Rose's award winning device could enter the minds of dead people) or he would break down and surrender. Either option was not viable.

She never realised his plan, that he was slowly coming closer to Rose. He wanted to be there to protect her at every hour. Through all trials, he wanted them to be together. When he arrived at a close enough distance he braced himself for a fight. He knew Rose would be confused, he knew her kind heart and the reason why she left all that room for him. He knew, but he cared more about her than what she expected. He stood his ground, watching her fight and the one that was about to occur. She approached him slyly, an in an instant their fight had begun, and it continued for a long, long time. Oscar knew the weakness of his opponent, the injury that was present at their last encounter was still affecting her today. His constant, never ending attacks on her legs were wearing her down and while she tried to protect them, she knew that he was too strong. Still –to this day- not knowing how it happened, she ended up on the floor looking straight into the eyes of Oscar Cole.

'Don't forget to say goodbye.' He mocked.

Rose knocked out yet another thug and was battling the final one. The second to go down was relatively simple, a leg sweep caused him to fall and hit his head on the wall barrier. The heavy flow of blood indicated only one thing – he wouldn't be getting up for a while. She dedicated all her energy to this final one, ignoring the rest of the world, because once he was through she could help Oscar… and that was her life's purpose. Every punch was blocked by the other person, every movement countered, every thought had an opposite reaction. It was stalemate in its most stale form and Rose wasn't giving up.

He stood on top of her triumphantly, but before he could deliver the final blow he looked at Rose and felt his heart stop beating. The lackey who was unconscious moments before had recovered and was quietly creeping up behind Rose, ready to push her to an inevitable 6 storey drop and her ultimate demise. Before he could process what was happening Oscar instinctively ran to that thug and pushed him over the edge. Rose gave a bone crunching kick in the man's knee and turned around.

'Oscar.' She whispered, seeing everything that was occurring in slow motion. Her body stood rooted to the spot, her mind unable to comprehend anything that was happening. She saw Oscar push the man over the edge.

She saw the man fall over the edge.

She saw Oscar fall over the edge.

His momentum meant that it was impossible for him to not follow along the same fate. The man whose leg was snapped by Rose started laughing, and then he got a large cut in his calf the size of her heel. He fainted almost immediately after.

'Ohh, vicious. Maybe I should hire you instead.' Rose turned to the woman, hatred visible in her eyes.

'What the hell do you want now?' The woman smirked, and Rose didn't know how Oscar was even connected to her… they were polar opposites.

'You sound exactly like your boyfriend you know that?'

'My what?' Rose wasn't in the mood for playing games and _**she**_ was just taunting her, rubbing in the non-existent relationship between Rose and Oscar.

'Your right… it's now _**dead**_ boyfriend.' Rose bit her lip to stop expletives from slipping out.

'He is not my boyfriend.'

'Oh really!' She lifted up her eyebrows at this unexpected piece of information. 'That's not what he said.' And catching Rose by surprise she attacked, and attacked ruthlessly. Rose wasn't expecting that and she stumbled slightly at the ferociousness of the attack. But she what she was missing in skill she made up in determination, passion and anger. And love. She fought back in such a way that the woman was almost impressed, but what she did not count on is the fact that –by dancing here with Oscar just an hour ago- Rose knew things that she didn't. And the small unused pipe in the centre of the building was definitely something that she didn't know. With a forceful punch Rose was able to get her to move backwards and trip over the discarded pipe. In an instant Rose had pinned her down, applying a little bit of pressure on the woman's neck with her bloody high heel.

'Do you know what this is?' Rose questioned 'it's your external jugular vein. If you were to say, receive a deep cut there it would be impossible to save you after all your blood loss. You would die of exsanguination. And I hear it's _**very**_ painful. 'The sadistic look on Rose's face alerted the woman to the fact that Rose was very serious.

'You wouldn't.' The pain that coursed through her body after those words left her mouth indicated that she would.

'Don't push me!'

'We both love him you know… and we're both hurting. Don't do something you'll regret.' Rose subconsciously applied more pressure, cutting into the lady's epidermis. She leaned forward to the woman and her.

'You never loved him. Not the way I do, not in any way. As for doing something I'll regret…' in a flash Rose pulled out one of her many bobby pins and pulled of the lid. The panicked look in the woman's eye adding to the malice that was visible in Rose's. Injecting the needle into the woman's neck Rose immediately started running to the edge of the building, her shoe scratching the woman's neck – leaving signs that a scar would remain. Grabbing the second largest bobby pin she twisted the top half and rang Frank who was downstairs, oblivious to drama happening above.

'Rose?' was her static response.

'Frank listen. Oscar and I were attacked on the roof, get a team up here now – there is a bunch of people you will want to see.' She took one look at the three bodies on the roof and sighed. 'As for doing something I'll regret… that's keeping you alive.'

And with that, she jumped off the roof.

She grabbed a pole that was conveniently located next to the building and slid down it, once passing the three quarter section she jumped on the umbrella at the entrance of the MI Unit building and leapt to the floor. The sight there gruesome and scarring. The disfigured way that he laid on the floor; his face calm and accepting of his fate… it almost looked dead. She immediately checked his pulse – it was slow and faint. She knew that she didn't have long. Hearing a commotion up on the roof she looked up and saw the remnants of pink dust. Cursing at the misfortune she screamed loudly gaining the attention of everyone in the MI Unit ball. Two men brought a stretcher and took him inside; calling for an ambulance would be pointless – some of Britain's top surgeons and its best hospital were located in that building. Another brought a carry-bag for the body that didn't survive.

From that moment everything was a blur to Rose. She didn't know how she ended up in the middle of the ballroom when she was crouching over Oscar's body moments before.

She didn't understand a thing that people were saying to her, the questions asked just got a silent reply.

She didn't realise that tears were pouring down her face for the second time that night, and just like the first it was because she hurt Oscar.

She didn't realise that Carrie had screamed at the sight of her, had a five minute conversation that she just met with a blank look.

The only thing she could focus on is the door that people had pushed his body through. The only thing she could think was that she should be in there with him… instead of him.

She didn't realise that she had stopped breathing, the stress, the pain to too much to bear.

She didn't realise that she had fainted.

… **MIHTD …**

The next morning she woke up refreshed and the hope that it was all a dream was at its highest. But looking around at Carrie's unslept in bed, at her ripped clothing… She knew it was real. In an instant she was rushing out the door, her path memorised in her sleep. When she arrived she was met with a tired looking Carrie, Frank, Stark and head of MI9. She slowly walked in but once she saw their faces she slowly backed out of the room, shaking her head.

'No… no he has to be alive. He can't have… can't have…' Rose's voice cracked the tears that weren't shed yesterday night threatening to fall now.

'Calm down Rose, he's alive… But he's in a critical condition.' Carrie approached Rose slowly in an attempt to not scare the girl. But Rose wasn't focussing on Carrie – Oscar was all that she cared about. She immediately rushed to his side.

'Oh Oscar, oh thank goodness you're alive. I don't know how I'd survive without you.' She leaned forward and rested her forehead on his. Her hand caressed his pale cheek and the tears fell from her eyes… not tears of sadness but rather tears of joy. The rate at which his heart beat rose with this contact and this fact didn't go unnoticed by everyone in the room – everyone except Rose whose whole attention was on the man underneath her.

Daisy, Blane and Stewart had all come into the room; although not really knowing Oscar personally, they all cared about Rose and saw her faint on the hotel floor. Carrie had told them to come hoping that Rose would be more co-operative with familiar faces than with random individuals. Carrie, Frank, Stark and the Head of MI9 were happy to see them arrive so soon.

'How's she handling it?' Blane voiced for all the concerns of all three of them.

'Handling it better than others but still really badly.' The leader MI 9 shook her head sadly 'it's like I've now lost two of my greatest agents… not one.' They all kept silent, looking at the pair that seemed to be in their own world. 'But still, we have business to discuss.' The head of MI9 was the first to shy away from any emotion and was trying to get them to focus on the primary issue's here. None were willing to object or separate Rose from Oscar and so they had walked to the corner of the room. Their muffled voices trying not to disturb Rose and her undivided attention on Oscar. The seven of them unknowingly raised their voices, unwittingly alerting Rose to the topic of the conversation.

'You could just ask me instead of arguing in the corner.' Rose's eyes never left Oscar, but she could feel their eyes on her. She slowly, hesitantly got up and walked to them. 'I know who attacked us, the organisation, everything. The pink dust gives it away even if I didn't see the logo on the helicopter. That and we have had multiple experiences with that woman' Rose spat out the word 'woman' as if it were acid, burning her tongue.

'Well don't keep us in suspense. We need to know.' The seven pairs of eyes were on her now.

'It was THIK.' Looks of confusion passed through Stewart, Blane and Daisy. The others just looked exasperated – those three words explained it all.

'What's THIK?'

'The Head Involving Krimes – they still can't spell.'

'What do you mean "still"?' Stewart was quick to pick that up.

'You know how I said we defeated SKUL, well the Grand Master was gone and some of his minions were upset that they lost so easily and started their own league of super evil – THIK. Their leader, her… well she and Oscar have some history, and she wanted revenge. Revenge on him, revenge on all MI9.'

'History? Don't tell me they dated and he broke it off so she went all "evil" or something?' Daisy was slightly repulsed that someone would do that over a stupid break up.

'No!' Rose's response was immediate and forceful. 'No' she whispered, walking away from them and closer to his unmoving body. 'They never dated.' She slowly started to trace his face, lightly dragging her fingers from the beginning of his head to the bottom of his chin and up again. She sighed, hating the fact that it was the worst day of her life and she didn't have him to lean on.

'Then what was it? What was their history?' Daisy was getting frustrated, and the others knew it. Four of them could have easily answered the question but all felt that it should come from Rose. Without looking away from his face she answered the question, although barely a whisper they all heard it.

'She was his mother.'

* * *

Yay. Update:) Love all you reviewers, i squealed like crazy (if you didnt get it, my distraction was Final Chance - the threeshot). i was so tempted not to add the last 2 words but i am like y'all deserve it. The next two chapters are written, but might not be updated for a while.

So anyways... you know what to do.


	9. Involved

'_She was his mother.'_

Her two former teammates and favourite science geek looked at her shocked, expecting any other reaction other than the one given.

'But if his mother is evil, how do we know…' the words died on Daisy's lips once she saw Rose's reaction. She had seen Rose in all different lights, but none involving her angry. 'Sheesh, I just thinking out loud.'

'The man almost died to save my life; he has risked his own countless times for complete strangers. Don't you _dare_ suggest that it is even possible for him to commit such a betrayal, after all you weren't exactly all innocent were you Daisy?' Daisy opened her mouth to retort but closed it right after; she knew what Rose was referring to. The other people in the room looked at Daisy confused.

'I got to go, call me if there are any improvements.' Daisy just mumbled it and walked out, Blane and Stewart followed just a few moments after; both realising that their primary aim (i.e. helping Rose through the event) would not be accomplished now. The other four remaining people watched the drama develop with an increasing concern. Soon – although Daisy and the others had left the room- the tension that remained became too unbearable to handle. The head of MI9 and Stark left ten minutes or so after, Frank another half hour and finally Carrie who after placing a consoling hand on Rose's shoulder, walked out roughly three hours after the others. Rose however just remained in the room holding Oscar's lifeless hand, watching, hoping, praying for any improvement with the man.

None occurred.

A few minutes, hours or days had passed since the event and Rose still hadn't moved from her position at the side of his bed. Fatigue was a battle that she was facing, but she refused to sleep; the guilt would gnaw at her soul every time her eyelids closed. She had the ability to sleep, but she also had the ability to wake up, unlike Oscar who was forced into this state of limbo wandering the blurred lines of life and death in his coma. Who was forced into this state by her. Had she not executed the move more efficiently, had she not been so confident with herself, had she been able to take care of herself one of this would have happened. He wouldn't have dived down there; he would have never saved her life. Her hero, her saviour, her soul mate. And he could die because of her stupidity.

Every time she closed her eyes the scene replayed in her mind and she couldn't stop it. It felt as if she was transported back into that situation; being forced to endure the same pain over and over without the ability to do anything. Tears began filling her eyes at the thought of the event and when she heard the door open, she couldn't make out the shapes that were entering the room. It wasn't anyone she knew intimately; the voices were familiar though. Wiping the tears away from her eyes she saw someone she never expected to see in Oscar's room. The head of the Department Of Internal Espionage was standing at the door, waiting silently for her to notice him. When he saw her looking at him quizzically he decided to introduce himself.

'Hello Rose, I am Henry Lewis, I am just here to ask you a few questions.' The man was clearly in his early thirties and was an experienced agent, but the way that he looked at her made her feel as if he were the kindest, most sympathetic person in the agency. He probably was… his history was not that happy.

'Hi Henry, what is this about?'

'I just want to ask some questions about a week ago.'

'A week ago?' Rose was confused; a week ago was the reunion at St Hopes, she knew that she went into HQ, but there was no one watching and no hidden security camera's. Whatever happened to involve this department she had no idea.

'The incident on the rooftop, the one that occurred when you were supposed to be at the ceremony.' The shocked look on Rose's face alerted Henry to a problem. 'You do know that it has been a week since the incident?' Rose shook her head slowly, trying to process this new information. It has been a week, an entire week and it just floated by without her even realising. 'I realise that you are experiencing shock but I need to know exactly what happened on that night. Security cameras can only reveal so much; you on the other hand, an actual eye witness can be vastly more informative.' Rose nodded slowly.

'What do you want to know?'

'Oh the basics, just recount the events and I'll pause you if I want any further information. It will all be recorded so I won't pester you about anything after this.' Rose just nodded, the pale green eyes she was gazing into seem to comfort her; the sadness and empathy was present, but the desire to do good was there and that is what motivated Rose to think about everything… everything not related to how nice he smelt or the way he looked at her before he fell off the roof. 'Do you want to do it here, or do you want to go to my office. Anywhere is okay with me but if it will give you bad vibe here than I am open for suggestions.'

'No, no. I am happy here.' Rose shook her head, trying to focus only on the events of that night. 'Well I remember most of the night, but I'll stick to the parts that you need.' She smiled, reminiscent of the events that she _**wasn't**_ going to tell him about.

'Any time you are ready.' He prompted as Rose had drifted off into her own little world.

'Oh sorry,' she apologised while blushing 'I remember that when we were up there he was very tense, I had asked him why and he said that he thought he saw his mother… I think it was three times: one as a civilian, again as a waiter and once more as a spy invited to the ceremony ball… you know what I mean.' He nodded. 'Well I heard a helicopter –the helicopter- but I brushed off my paranoia. I could tell that it was coming closer to us and thought it going to attack, but I remembered that the location was top secret and changes every year so it would be impossible for an outsider to find it.' Rose let a caustic laugh out. 'I guess we were both correct.' She paused for a second before continuing. 'Well, I thought it would be impossible unless they got inside help, but the chances of that are even smaller.' Doubt was flooding her head, the words that Daisy almost said were repeating themselves in her head. 'Well, they flashed a high voltage light in our eyes which temporarily blinded us. The THIK logo was plastered on the side of it, but that was obvious because Jade Dixon Halliday got out.'

'And what is her relation to THIK?'

'She was the founder. She is the leader.'

'And her relationship with Oscar?'

'She is his mother.' He nodded, knowing the information previously.

'And what happened after you received your eyesight?'

'Well three men and one woman -her- jumped out of the helicopter. The men all singled me out, but she stayed a distance away, taunting Oscar to come closer. I thought it was planned for him specifically, but she didn't know we would be up there, or maybe we were up there so long that she was able to exit the building and return on a helicopter.' Rose realised that he didn't want her speculations, but rather pure facts. 'Well, I took out one of the males and went to a corner so that the other two couldn't attack me from both sides. Oscar came closer which made the fight more difficult because I didn't want to get involved in his fight as well. I thought I had knocked one of the men out and I focussed on the final one. But it seems that it wasn't that strong as he crept up from behind me and attempted to throw me over. However Oscar noticed what the guy was going to do and he… he…' He breath became slightly laboured, she was struggling to speak; the memories were too strong for her to take.

'Rose are you okay?' Henry asked concerned 'Do you want to pause the interview?'

'He did it for me.' It came out so lightly that Henry couldn't hear it. 'He did it for me, the thug was going to take me over and to stop him Oscar risked his life. For me.' Henry realised what she was saying and paused the recording. Some things were never meant to be documented. 'I sometimes think of what would have happened if he didn't jump. What he would be doing, whether THIK would have escaped from the roof, whether he would care that I died- because there is no way I would have survived that fall. The momentum of the push would have been too strong for me to fall straight down; because he pushed the guy off the roof as well as fall himself the lackey took most of his momentum, hence Oscar in this coma state and not in a coffin.' Henry put his hands on Rose's shaky ones, and smiled. She looked him in the eye and attempted to return his smile with a watery one of her own.

'He would have been mourning you as strongly as you are mourning him. But he is going to survive Rose– and you will both get your chance at happiness.' And in an instant Henry had left the room; his own past bringing up some painful wounds.

The discussion had felt relieving in some odd way; those feeling had been kept inside of her, manifesting itself in some poisonous way. By telling Henry – by telling anybody- she felt like the poison had been diluted, it wasn't the concentrated acid she worked with daily… now she might actually be able to survive. This being said it didn't mean she was going to leave Oscar's side any time soon.

And that is why Stewart ended up there again three days later.

'Come on Rose, you've been here for weeks; you need to eat something, you need fresh air, vitamin D, water. Do you need me to continue?'

'I need him alive.' She didn't turn to Stewart, but she acknowledged him. That was a start. Then he thought of a tactic, one that might have disastrously high consequences for him later on but it was urgent.

'Rose, if you continue acting this way, you might not be deemed an appropriate agent to plan a counterattack.'

'Hmm?' Rose sounded more interested.

'If there is ever a mission to avenge the attack, you'd never know because you'd never leave this room. You would spend all your time worrying about him and none of your time helping him.' She looked at him, the first person other than Oscar to be seen in three days.

'But he needs me here.'

'Rose, listen, if you don't leave this room, you'll never help him. His mother is out there, are you going to let her win, crippling MI9's best couple.'

'Are you sure it's necessary?'

'Certain.' He could see her hesitantly get up from her chair; she touched Oscar's face for the last time and joined Stewart. Once she reached him she almost turned back, but a firm hand on her shoulder pushed in the right direction and out the door. 'Next time you see him, he'll be awake and we will have crushed THIK.'

'For Oscar' she added, whispering to herself. And with one final glance she walked out of the room.

**MIHTD**

The next few days went flying by, every time someone went to view Oscar to see whether he was improving they would glance instinctively at Rose. But she remained oblivious to the looks people were giving her; the determination that the next time she saw Oscar THIK would be destroyed and he would be awake motivated her. She worked on things when she was there, the thought that there could possibly be a mole in MI9 or any MI Unit was something that would not leave her alone. This occupied her for days at a time, but she wasn't getting anything significant; she was going to ask Stewart for help but he was oddly enough never available.

It was when she realised that Carrie, Frank, Blane, Stewart _**and**_ Daisy were disappearing more frequently that she got suspicious. They claimed that they were checking his improvements, but none of them came back with any information for Rose. Stark was never around, on some crazy mission or in a meeting with the Head of MI9. _Anyways_, Rose deduced_, he wouldn't tell me if something was happening even if he was here. He always liked holding the cards close to his chest._ That is when she came up with the plan; it was rather ingenious and required a lot of skill to execute perfectly. _That way, they can't claim that my spy skills are being affected because of the accident. _Besides, the mission was supposed to fail.

It was not supposed to succeed.

It was not going to succeed. Because her mission…

Her mission was to get evidence of secret operation taking place with members involving Daisy, Blane, Carrie, Stewart with a team supervisor of Frank. And their mission which she so desperately wanted to prove was not occurring…

Their mission was to take down THIK.

The bug she planted on Carrie was to dissipate any worries that she had. The idea's that kept on recurring in her mind, the thoughts that unsettled her at every moment – they needed to be gone, and that was the only way how.

She never though that they would only confirm her fears.

She never thought that her mission would succeed.

But it had and that only meant one thing: they had begun a mission, _THE_ mission… and had left her off the team.

She couldn't even think of a reason. Okay – lie; she could think of multiple reasons, but none were legitimate excuses. The first reason she could think of is conflict of interest; like how Frank was kept of the mission because of the 'disappearance' of his cousin Charlton. But, crush aside, she was just as involved with Oscar as Frank and Carrie and they were involved in the mission, so that clearly wasn't a reason. Sure she may have been an emotional wreck for the past fortnight, but she was improving… she was staring to socialise again and given another few weeks she would have made a dramatic improvement. Which leads to another reason conjured, in order to not rush her grieving process they decided to postpone her involvement in the mission. But that was stupid because MI9 agents were strong, physically, mentally, **emotionally**. Whether she was grieving or not would never affect her performance in a mission and delaying her involvement would run a higher risk of them failing because she may not have had time to familiarise herself with all the minute details.

After an hour and a half she was able to think of approximately thirty reasons for why she was kept off the mission and they were allowed on it.

Within the same hour and a half she was able to discredit every single reason.

And that is when she decided that the team would never be complete without a certain Rose Gupta.

**MIHTD**

She saw them leaning over a computer, discussing a plan in hushed tones; it was then Rose decided that revealing herself would be a good time.

'So what are we working on?'

'Rose!' They all exclaimed, jumping and turning to face her, hiding any evidence of what they were doing. The last person to turn around was Stewart – he was the one on the computer discreetly getting rid of what they were doing and placed minor mission information up instead (because it would be too obvious if Rose saw nothing on the computer).

'What are you doing here?'

'I haven't seen you in ages!'

'How is Oscar, you should really check up on him.'

'Don't bother yourself with this; it is just routine inspections.' They were all avoiding something and she knew it. Stewart, Daisy, Blane, Carrie and Frank. She had spent almost half her life with them all, she had befriended them all. She knew when they trying to deceive her.

'Why are you hiding the fact that you're working on a Level A mission against THIK?'

'Pfft, what are you talking about Rose? We are not doing that.' Carrie seemed convincing, but the look on Rose's face indicated she didn't believe it. 'Why would you think that?' Carrie's voice had dropped a few notches in volume, the more natural caring side starting to emerge.

'I bugged the computer to see if there was a mole within the MI Unit, after all how… would… she…' Rose held the offending receiver in her hand as she spoke and the looks on her friends' faces worried her than anything else. 'What is it?' She was growing concerned, the looks they gave each other wasn't helping.

'We'll work on this later guys.' Said Blane walking away, his other two team members followed suit muttering 'see ya later' and 'ciao' leaving a confused Rose turning to Frank and Carrie for answers.

'What is it?'

'Rose,' started Frank, thinking of the best way to approach this potentially volatile situation. 'There is a reason why we didn't tell you about the mission.'

'I know.' For a second Frank thought she truly understood – but then she continued, 'I get that you wanted me to grieve, clear my system of any trauma or fear and I respect that decision, but I thought it was clear I had passed the traumatic stage of seeing your best friend jump off a roof in order to save your life.' She had started strongly, but just thinking about his face as he dived down, it almost brought tears to her eyes. Almost. She did not wasn't to seem weak though, so she fought them back.

'No what I mean is, there was a reason you didn't know about it.'

'I thought of that too and you don't need to explain, I understand that you felt that by alerting me to the mission at hand I would lie about my recovery, you didn't want to rush things with me and so by not informing me I would come to terms with what happened at my own pace.'

'That's not it Rose.'

'You didn't want me to do anything irrational then, you thought that if I hadn't accepted what happened I would act in a crazed manner, potentially ruining any chance of us catching THIK… or possibly kill us.'

'No Rose.'

'But don't worry, I am fully in control of my emotions and my espionage skills have not been affected. Hence the reason why I was able to bug Carrie and the computer so easily.'

'You bugged me!' For the first time Carrie entered the conversation.

'What?' started Rose defensively, 'you weren't supposed to actually be a part of a mission behind my back. I just wanted to get rid of my worries and that was supposed to get rid of them.'

'I can't believe you bugged me. I can't believe I didn't notice.' Carrie began grumbling to herself so Rose turned back to Frank expectantly.

'So, will you add me to the team?'

'Rose, you were left off this mission.'

'A clerical error can easily be fixed, you know that I deserve to be on this mission – you can fix it for me now.' Rose understood she was clutching at straws with that comment, the sorrowful looks on Frank and Carrie's face gave her an inkling early on, but she didn't accept it –she refused to accept it- until now.

'Rose, you were _purposely_ left off this mission.'

'But I don't understand. Why? We are a team, and I need to be on this mission.' Rose's agitation was reaching a critical level and it was obvious to Frank. He muttered with Carrie and Rose was sensing a secret has being held. She knew that something was being hidden from her and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

'We are MI9 for goodness sake, we do everything for reason. So can one of you please tell me why one of MI9's greatest technological and strategic minds is not being allowed to work on one of its toughest cases!' The long glance Frank gave Carrie worried Rose, she was so confused but she still demanded answers.

'Rose,' Carrie started calmly, there was a smile on her face to calm Rose down but it was having the opposite effect. 'Don't take it as an insult, but it is because you are involved with Oscar.'

'I don't get it? We were all involved in his life, we were his family. Why am I being stopped but you are all allowed to continue?'

'It's not like that Rose.' Frank insisted.

'Yeah, when I said involved I meant _romantically_ involved.'

For the second time since the accident Rose fainted.

* * *

Wow. an update, even i am surprised. Well, you have the adopted version of 'Sins of the Father' to thank for this update. Another Roscar story is always inspirational. That and i just finished my trials so YAY.

i hope y'all enjoy it,

a.m95


	10. The Answer

_For the second time since the accident Rose fainted._

**MIHTD**

She found herself in the hospital, in a room isolated from all other patients in that hospital ward. She was confused for a moment until all the memories came flooding back. Their beliefs. Him. Her. Together. She shook her head; her one intention in the late night rendezvous with Oscar was the one thing hindering her from helping in the mission. A headache immediately hit her, the stress of the past week finally catching up with her. She rubbed her head to soothe the pain, but as she looked up she saw Frank and Stark in a heated debate outside her room; and judging from the wild hand gestures and the repeated pointing towards her room meant that it was about her. Picking up a stethoscope left behind by the doctors she crept to the doorway and placed it at the key hole, enabling her to hear fragments of the discussion.

'She is a part of the team Stark! It is not natural to leave her out.'

'But her emotions will get in the way! You are the one who told me that they are together, and that is the only thing keeping her from the mission so don't you try and guilt me into adding her.'

'Maybe we can give her a small job, small but time consuming.' Frank was formulating a plan; Rose could tell by the way that slowly drifted off, as if he was talking to himself. 'She could research things we already have information on, causing her to think that she is important in the mission, not knowing that we already had it.' Frank had stopped by then and looked at Stark, who most probably had a disbelieving look on his face. 'Come on; she would cause more harm wondering around here all day with no supervision than on a mission.'

'Frank…' Stark began.

'No it's perfect, it guaranteed to work.'

'There is just a slight problem.' Rose had decided to interrupt his careful planning. She had opened the door with her bobby pin in her hair and was now looking at both of them. 'She now knows your plan, so it isn't going to work.'

'Frank, you are an incompetent genius.' He sighed, turning to Rose 'well, you can go now if you wanted.'

'Thanks.' So she walked out thinking about what she heard and how she could prove her innocence.

**MIHTD**

A flustered Frank and Carrie encountered Rose a few hours later; not knowing how to approach the awkward conversation that was destined to happen. Thankfully, Rose was the one to determine how the conversation would go and she ignored everything that happened.

'Hi Frank, hey Carrie. What are you two doing here?'

'We are allowed to be in a computer room Rose, it isn't just meant for the scientific and technologically gifted members of MI9.' Carrie said defensively.

'I know' Rose laughed, 'I just didn't expect to see you here.'

'Well, why are you here Rose?' Frank questioned, his gaze bearing into her.

'Do I need a reason to be in my favourite area?' She knew that although they were still distrustful they were no going to push it any further.

She sat at a computer far away from them and put in her flash drive. Once installed she opened up her specially designed firewall which meant that anyone hacking into her computer would not know what she was specifically doing, but would be led on a wild goose chase. But knowing Frank the way she did, he would be hacking and he would break through the firewall. On the bottom left hand corner of the computer was a bar telling her how much of the firewall was decoded ad the approximate time left until it was all gone. It was already at ninety five per cent when the computer finally loaded it, and taking that into account it predicted another half hour before it was cracked completely. Cracking her knuckles, Rose herself began to crack some firewalls and hack into some protected data.

Very protected.

Another twenty minutes later Rose had all the documents that she needed from the website, looking at the small bar she cursed in her head, he was just five per cent away from completely decrypting and shutting down her firewall. She saved all the blueprints and plans that she had found and shut everything down. At three per cent remaining, she realised she forgot one important detail. She didn't know what to do and Frank was getting really close. Groaning in anger she turned off the computer entirely and pulled out her flash drive; she could hear Frank and Carrie's sighs of exasperation from the other side of the room. Gathering her stuff quickly she was rushing to the door on the other side of the room. And in between her and the door was Carrie and Frank. She slowed down when she was near them and tried not to laugh when she saw their upset faces.

'Well, I've got to go. Bye!' Her eagerness to leave was evident, so evident that Frank stuck out a hand and stopped her before she could leave.

'Rose, is there anything you want to tell us. A secret perhaps, like what you were doing on the computer?' She knew then that he had an inkling to what she was doing, but he didn't know for certain, and she was going to keep it that way.

'No, I have nothing I want to tell you. Goodbye.'

And with that, she ran.

Rose paused outside Oscar's door, the temptation to enter in and lose herself in him was growing. After the brief meeting with Frank and Carrie she really felt that she needed his touch, his comfort… she needed him. Reluctantly however, she shook herself out of her daze and continued on; but she had only taken a few steps when she un- expectantly banged into Henry.

'Hi Henry, where are you going with those flowers?' He smiled at her because he knew she already knew the answer.

'Well, since someone decided to avoid Oscar like the plague I feel as though he really needs the human companionship; scientifically it is proven that he will improve if he was in contact with other people… people he loved.'

'I know Henry, but I made a promise that I would have brought down THIK before that ever happened. I don't deserve to be with him knowing I did it to him.'

'Yeah, I know how that feels. But I also know that he is still alive, I and I want to give him these flowers before he wakes up. I have a feeling I am not the first person he would want to see.' Rose understood the connotation and couldn't stop the blush that spread across her features when he winked at her. She did however stop the tears. When she looked up to speak some more he was already halfway in the room.

'Henry,' Rose shouted before the doors closed. He heard and walked back to her. 'Is there any video recordings of Oscar before he hit the floor?' Her voice was beginning to crack, the never ending flow of tears trying to break through the dam. His eyes softened and he nodded at her.

'Are you sure you want to see it though, it might not be suitable for you in this condition, and so close to the event actually taking place.'

'No, I want to see it for my own eyes, I want to know what happened and what… and what should have happened to me.' A conflict of emotion passed through Henry's eyes before he nodded resignedly at Rose.

'If you come to my office in an hour I can have everything ready for you.'

'I'll be there.'

Sure enough, in an hour Rose was in front of his office, waiting for him to let her in. And, true to his word once she entered the room the computer screen were showing the beginning of a video recording outside the hotel with the date of a week prior. On the side of his desk were multiple sheets, the bundles were clearly doctor's report and other official documents. When he said he would have everything, she didn't expect him to be supererogated.

'Are you sure you want to watch it?' he questioned, but the assertive nod by Rose caused him to reluctantly press play.

By then Rose wished that she had responded differently.

It was peaceful of a few minutes, a few people sporadically walked past the building, none caring about what was happening inside. Then suddenly Rose saw the thug fall down lightning fast. The sickening crunch that followed confirmed the autopsy report; he had landed on his head.

The crunch was the impact of his skull hitting the concrete floor below.

After that there was a second of silence before Rose heard a loud ripping sound. The she saw was a large piece of material hanging down a few metres in front of the doorway and Oscar's body lying underneath.

Then the silence resumed.

Henry paused the video and looked at Rose's horrified face. 'That piece of material saved his life, had it not been _there_ he would not have been_ here._'

'Oh my Gosh.'

'Here are the doctor's reports for both of them. There was no eye witness accounts of what happened except for yours and I'm pretty sure that was all you wanted, however, there is a pile of sheets here that you could read; day by day improvements, the autopsy, the credentials of the doctor. Whatever I could think of.' He looked at Rose one last time and sighed, memories of when he was her age came flooding back. He was in her very position however Rose was lucky, his wife of just six weeks…

…Unlike Oscar she didn't make it.

'I'm gonna get some lunch okay Rose' she nodded slowly, still staring at the computer screen. 'I'm gonna leave you here, don't feel obliged to leave, just lock the door on your way out.' She didn't respond that time; he looked at her one last time before walking away. Instantly Rose pounced on the computer screen; the piles of papers right next to it were completely ignored by the woman. All she did was replay the video over and over again. Within 30 sittings she had committed it to memory, the 31st try however, she couldn't bring herself to replay it; she let it continue playing, she saw herself jump down from the roof, she saw herself look up, she heard her scream.

But she didn't pity herself, she could never pity herself.

She did this to him, his own damn mother did this to him.

The video continued playing, the doctors and crowd of MI Unit agents had disappeared. Civilians were walking past, none of them knowing that right on the very spot they walked on, someone almost died to save her life. One civilian in particular caught her eye. Not because of her clothing or the fact that she seemed to recognise that the very spot she was standing on had stains of blood on it. No it was because she looked at the camera, not the fake one that was placed there to distract petty criminals, the one hidden in between the plants next to the doorway. But, not only did she look at the camera, but she laughed and waved. And that is when Rose realised who she was.

Jade. Dixon. Halliday.

The shock hit Rose like a tonne of bricks and the sharp gasp was just a side effect. 'I'm going to work on that mission' Rose whispered to herself 'even if it is the last thing I do alive.' And then she too left the room, her determination at its highest, resolve at its strongest, skill at its best.

She was going to get on that team and take down that traitor.

And nobody was going to stop her.

**MIHTD**

'Frank. Carrie.' Rose was dead serious about going on the mission and it was reflected in her tone; she easily located them and her seriousness grew with every step taken. 'I want to help.' Frank turned around and groaned, her persistency was wearing him thin and his agitation easily broke through his calm demeanour.

'Rose, you need to get over it! You're in no position to go on this mission.'

'I'm in a better position than any of you. I was there when the attack took place. I was there when he fell down the roof. I took down his mother – had the SWAT team arrived there earlier she wouldn't have disappeared.'

'Are you blaming me for this?' Frank exclaimed. 'Are you saying it's my fault that she was able to get away?' Rose took a deep breath, this was not going the way she had planned.

'I am not blaming anyone; all I am saying is that when the pressure was applied I didn't buckle, I was able to handle that so there is no reason that I cannot handle the mission.'

'That's it!' Frank slammed his fist onto the table so loudly that Carrie jumped. 'Rose you **know** that there a reason, you **know** you have a conflict of interest. I order you to stay **away** from this mission.'

'I'm sorry Frank, but you do not have that authority. All I want to know is why I can't go on the mission.'

'Because you are in a relationship with him. Honestly Rose why won't you accept that?'

'Because I am not.'

'Oh yes Rose' Frank started sarcastically 'I totally believe that, we were so wrong about you. Best friends always go on a rooftop by themselves with no other motive than to teach the other how to dance. You can go on the mission now if you want.'

'Wait! Are you saying that if I am able to prove I wasn't romantically involved with Oscar I can go on the mission?' Rose's eerie seriousness was worrying Carrie.

'Yes, that is exactly it.' Frank smiled; happy the fact was finally getting through to Rose.

'Then interrogate me; attach me to a lie detector, drug me with Elixir 2247 I don't care! I am going on this mission and if that means I need to show you the truth I will shove it down your throats.' Rose's emotions changed from serious to borderline hysterical, it worried Frank and Carrie, but they knew people dealt with grief in different ways, and Rose's was definitely different to theirs. It is not that they weren't grieving; it is that they whole heartedly believed that Oscar would recover. It hurt them to see him there, motionless, but that just strengthened their efforts to bring down THIK, when Rose saw him, it weakened her even further.

'Rose, we don't want to do it. We believe you; we just don't think you're in the best mental state to be dealing with this.' Rose looked at Carrie suspiciously.

'Carrie you're an awful liar.' Frank muttered to himself, but he knew they all heard it. 'Rose, we all loved him; you loved him in a different way and that is going to affect the way you handle the mission.'

'If I pass the interrogation, will I be allowed to work on the mission?' Rose's steely voice was unnerving them all.

'Yes.'

'Then I refuse to answer any questions unless…' Rose was already walking away. 'You know where to find me.'

**MIHTD**

It turns out they didn't.

Oscar's hospital room was empty, the gym was filled with agents on a holiday, her room looked like it hadn't been touched in weeks. It probably hadn't. Carrie and Frank were wandering around confused; an irritated Chief Agent Stark and Head of MI9 in tow.

'I don't know where she could be.' Frank exclaimed. An empathetic Carrie placed a hand on his shoulder.

'She didn't run away did she? She might not be mentally stable to handle any case, not just this one.' The Head of MI9 was growing increasing concerned with Rose- and not in the motherly type of way.

'No she is definitely here… somewhere.' Carrie looked around the hotel and huffed. 'I'm her best friend and I don't know where she could possibly be.'

'Don't worry. Only Oscar would give such an encrypted code. He's rubbing off on her.' Comforting was not one of Frank's best qualities, but Carrie needed it and he wasn't about to refuse.

'We have a meeting to go to. So unless you find her now we need to go.' Stark said and the Head nodded in agreement. Carrie looked forlornly at them, pleading silently to wait a while longer, and she knew she accomplished her task when she heard Stark sigh and look at her. 'What were you talking about before she disappeared.'

'She was complaining about the fact that she couldn't be on the mission. She said that we could interrogate her, drug her, do just about anything to her, just as long as it proves that she and Oscar weren't in a relationship... so you know she'd be allowed to work on the case.'

'So wait,' Stark asked, hoping that it wouldn't be this easy. 'Have you checked the interrogation area in the basement?'

**MIHTD**

'Hi, I thought you would have come hours ago.' Rose checked her watch. '4.79 hours ago actually.'

'Rose, what is this about?' Stark, as normal, went straight to business.

'I was alerted by my colleagues that I was being taken off the mission because of the misconception that Oscar and I were romantically involved with each other. They had agreed that-if this notion is proven false- I will be returned to the case. I am here to set you straight.' The calm, controlled look on her face and the even tone of voice shocked Frank and Carrie who saw her 4.79 hours prior. She looked up expectantly at them. 'What method do you plan on using, Elixir 2247, lie detector or the interrogation unit.' They looked at each other, thinking.

They used all three.

Rose ended up strapped to a chair, a small number of volts flowing through the contraption. The lie detector was traditionally attached to all the expected parts of the body; pulse, breathing and brain patterns all being monitored. Elixir 2247, a creation of Rose herself forced the person to tell the truth; there is no recorded vaccine or treatment for the injection and it is impossible for someone to be or grow immune to it however, MI9 were not the ones to take chances.

'Rose, we can do this the easy way or my way.' Stark, reciting the line he had said to Frank all those years ago felt a bitter taste in his mouth. He cared about Rose, almost loved her but love wasn't an emotion he felt (or so he kept deluding himself). Even when they were the annoying kids that were always popping up at the worst times, he always felt a begrudging respect for their youngest member.

'I am under the influence of the formula, there is no possibility that I can lie.' Rose smiled. 'Let's get this over with.'

'What is your name?'

'Rose Gupta.'

'What is your age?'

'As of 47 minutes ago… 23 years, 5 months and 12 days. I was a night baby.'

'Do you love Oscar?'

'Of course I love him, but doesn't everyone here? We are his family, you're like the older, protective, slightly irritating brother, Carrie is like the sister and Frank is like the father that never existed in his life.'

'And you?'

'I don't know how he viewed me, probably like a sister though.' The bitterness heard in her voice was evidence enough that she was telling the truth. The serum, the lie detector results, the body reactions to it… they were just there to back it up.

'But how did you view him?'

'Don't you mean "do"? ' The confused look of Stark caused Rose to sigh. 'You said how DID I view him, he isn't dead, he will survive. You meant "do".'

'Yeah whatever.'

'I love him, and not in a platonic way.' It was out before Rose could stop it, not that she wanted to stop it; if revealing that meant she would work on the mission she would scream it from the mountaintops. 'I love him but he never showed that he reciprocated those feelings.' A panicked look flashed across her face. 'That is not a legitimate reason or keeping me off the mission though. There have been missions where Carrie and Oscar were "married" and I never jeopardised the mission. I can keep my emotions in check; I've been doing it for seven years or so.' Carrie who was reminiscing about the missions, stopped shocked.

'Seven years, seven bloody years and she never told me that she was in love with him. How could you?' Carrie pouted, looking at Rose through the glass.

'You do realise she can neither hear nor see you. It is a soundproof booth and all she can see is her reflection.' Frank, had the situation been any lighter, would have laughed at Carrie's comic reactions.

'Just read the data.' Carrie finally responded, looking at the lady who was being interrogated in front of her.

'In fact,' Rose continued 'it would give me more passion and motivation. I would want to avenge the near death of Oscar and I highly doubt I would throw away any opportunity given. I would work harder, smarter, faster and with more dedication than anyone here. I wouldn't be a liability I'd be an asset. If anyone ever gave up – I wouldn't, if the mission was deemed a failure – I'd continue. And that is the type of people you'd need; one's who would never take losing as a final outcome.' She was convincing, worthy of an Oscar award… or just Oscar himself. Stark in the interrogation room and the Head in the attached room were impressed, almost convinced but one question stood in the way of Rose's spot on the team. One word that controls her destiny.

'Are you in a romantic relationship with him?' Rose kept silent, biting both her bottom lip and the tears that were threatening to fall out. Controlling her emotions was her primary aim before answering the question. 'There is no point in trying to lie. I'll ask the question one more time before the electricity comes into play.' Stark forced out a caustic laugh 'and my, won't that be fun. Now' before Rose knew it he was in her face, spitting out every single word. 'Were. You. In. A. Romantic. Relationship. With. Oscar!' He almost shouted the last word, wanting the torture of both their souls to end. Rose who had calmed herself looked him straight in the eye. The cold draught and shiver down his spine was purely coincidental.

'No.'

* * *

So this story is officially 3 years old. YAY. And as per tradition, every year on its birthday there is an update (and so, by default its my birthday too). I'm sorry for the delay; this was already written but I have hit a mental road block with the following chapter. I can envision it occurring, but writing it out is a different story... I warn you now, there will be fluff.

This Fanfiction does accept birthday presents in the form of reviews, follows and favourites.

This author does too.


	11. Unfulfilled Fairytales

_3 months later…_

* * *

There wasn't any improvement in him. Not that improvement was expected; with Rose no longer being his constant source of companionship, he had seemed to give up on life. But this didn't mean that Rose didn't care about him any less, quite the contrary – her love for him was the reason why she was organising this personal vendetta against THIK. She clearly surpassed the others in her dedication to the mission, but it was the research that she was doing outside the assignment that was making the most progress. She had already developed a strong theory and had a method to back it up – a method that meant extreme risks for her, but if it was to bring down THIK she thought it was necessary.

Because if she is right, which she constantly is, than she knew who the mole in MI9 was.

And her answer was more worrying than the question.

**MIHTD**

She exchanged a few words with the MI9 guard minding Oscar's room in case an enemy attack were to take place, before letting him get back to his tea while it was still hot. He had looked surprised at seeing her come anywhere near that room, knowing of her vow that THIK would have to defeated before she would voluntarily enter. The confidence she projected wasn't there inside her though and right before stepping in the room she hesitated. Biting her lip, she decided that breaking her promise was the lesser of the two evils in this situation. Because she would be walking into the lion's den with a strong possibility of never coming out alive. And if she didn't than she would have to say goodbye to Oscar now.

So with a deep breath she took a step into his hospital room.

"Hi Oscar." She didn't know where this sense of nervousness was coming from, because before she was able to spend a month in here without moving and now it was just so hard to be here. The crippling fear that he may never recover was wounding the lady more than she would like to acknowledge. And it's not as if he could call her out on her absence.

He still hadn't awoken.

"I know I haven't been in here recently, and I am sorry. I hope you don't feel as though I have abandoned you, because I haven't… I could never do a thing like that to you." Taking a shaky breath she sat down in the seat next to his bed and took his hand in hers, rubbing circles on his hand. "Well, life is going good; I'm on the mission to take down THIK. Can you believe that they almost didn't let me in because they thought we were in a relationship? I mean seriously…" the shaky breath was followed by an even shakier laugh "as much as I want too, I can't tell you about how I feel. How much I wanted to answer yes."

She felt his presence in the room, she knew it was now that her plan needed to be put into action. Carrie and Frank would kill her, and she didn't even want to think about what Stark would do knowing she was risking her life without him approving it (because face it, Stark would never approve her going on that mission).

"Oscar, I'll be going soon. Carrie and I are meeting up with Stark for lunch at the restaurant across from our park. I was able to hack in the THIK computer base and get their blueprints. I set off an alarm but was able to copy it; however it's on my USB here and I need to hand it to Stark. I know you probably think it is dangerous saving it to my USB only, however there's a device behind my middle finger on my right hand, and if it is not in the presence of moving blood for even a fraction of a millisecond, all my top secret files will be sent to every secret service agency around the world within that moment. I got it installed after our night out 4 months ago; it made me realise how vulnerable I really am… especially without you. The mission is almost done, and so my coming here – it's prophetic of our victory. I know we will win and so there no more fear of seeing you with defeat looming in every shadow. It gonna be difficult meeting them there. It was always 'our place.' We would always grab some take away and have a picnic in the park opposite it…"

Rose drifted off, the memories flooding her mind; no longer was she in Oscar's room but she was back there- almost as if it was an outer-body experience, she could see her and Oscar lying on a picnic blanket watching the clouds drift by. She saw how relaxed they were together, how easily she slid into his side resting her head between the crook of his neck and shoulder. She could almost swear she felt the ghost of Oscar's hand wrap around her waist as he did it in her memory. He pulled her closer to him and laughed when she saw herself pointing eagerly at a cloud that took one shape or another. She saw that he soon got bored at watching the clouds –it had been a relatively cloud-free day- and soon started watching her. When she scrunched her face in confusion and innocent smile ghosted his lips as he soaked in her features, putting every single one of them to memory.

He could almost see the wheels turning inside her head as she struggled to think of what exactly the cloud reminded her of. And when she finally matched the cloud with the object, she saw her face light up and turn to Oscar. Rose saw herself tell him what it was and make a face at his teasing response.

She saw herself turn on her side facing him; she saw him mirror her movements. They started playfully bantering but that quickly dropped down into whispering, each getting wrapped up in their own world. Oscar's arm, which was loosely wrapped around Rose's waist, pulled her closer to fill the gap created by the shifting of their bodies. It was instinctive for both of them to want to be as close as humanly possible. They didn't notice or acknowledge their subconscious desire; Rose saw herself laughing at something Oscar said, slapping his chest playfully but she saw herself resting it there, right on top of his heart. They continued talking to each other for a while longer, when suddenly Rose saw herself sticking her tongue out at Oscar before turning slightly to watch the clouds. Rose physically felt the atmosphere thicken at that moment, she watched Oscar as she saw his eyes intensify towards her. He watched her like before, but it felt so much more different.

Rose so desperately wanted to know the thoughts that were passing through his mind at that time, and if she did ever find out she would never have been able to stop the blush that would have overtaken her features. She wouldn't have objected – goodness no. She would have embraced every thought and added a few suggestions. But she had no way of knowing: not then and not now.

Rose was shocked her past self didn't feel it immediately; it took a few seconds for her to look back at Oscar. The question that she started asking was lost on her tongue when she met his gaze. She saw herself look away flustered, but when she heard him whisper her name she couldn't help but look back up at him. And she hadn't the strength to look away once more; most of her strength was being used to _not_ give into her desire. She wasn't the strongest person out there.

Rose saw them both leaning forward and she willed with all her might that they would get their fairy-tale moment; she could see his fingers reaching out and brushing a loose strand away from her face before tracing the shape of her jaw. Once reaching her chin, he tilted it up – not once breaking eye contact with her. Rose saw them move so hesitantly, so slowly that she wished she could go back in time and force her past self to kiss him because in the future she might not have a chance… But she couldn't, she was just forced to watch as their moment was ruined by a little kid running too close and snapping them out of their daze. She saw the smile that slid on Oscar's face as he said something teasingly to Rose; she watched them fall back into the safety net of friendship _**so easily**_! She hated herself; she knew what was happening and she hated it. They had packed up and were going their separate ways – him to work, her to Carrie. She looked as they gave each other a hug that lingered a lot longer than what it should have. She was thankful she was sitting down because as she saw him lean down and whisper something in her ear she was sure her knees would have given way and the shiver down her spine that was so repressed before was now free.

She knew that they agreed to meet here at the same time next week.

That time next week he was in a coma.

She bit her lip, longing for another chance so that she could give in to her temptation. She reached out, almost subconsciously, and grabbed Oscar's hand. Feeling his pulse beneath her fingers she physically felt herself calm down. She looked at him, reminding herself of the job she needed to complete. She let go of his fingers and jerked back as though she had been burnt.

The mole.

She was certain he had gone away, and that was when she pulled out the miniature device from her pocket. Tapping it a few times, she was able to determine that there were no bugs in Oscar's room or within a 5 metre radius. There were no holes in the walls – they were completely sealed off.

Her plan was perfect.

And with another half hour before needing to head off to the lunch, she knew she had to say goodbye.

"Well Oscar, the mole's gone now, probably to alert her about the meeting. I do believe that we will win but -" her voice caught in her throat. The enormity of the task that lay in front of her finally settled, but she had to overcome. She had to tell him. "-but I might not be there with you to celebrate." The tears were welling up in her eyes. The emotions she felt so strongly resurfaced and she only had a few moments left before it completely washed her away.

She got up from the seat and leaned over his unmoving body; the bandage wrapped around his head taming his wild curls more than all the hair gel in the world. But she loved his wild curls, she loved the way he smirked and had his hair frame is face just right.

She just loved him. And she needed to tell him whether he heard it or not.

"So, Oscar, I thought I should just say goodbye. And… and I love you. I love you so much it hurts Oscar. I love you so desperately that I'm not sure I would be able to handle the heartbreak of your rejection. I – Oh gosh Oscar." She bit her lip in frustration, the words wanted to pour forth, yet she didn't have the right ones to express her devotion to him. She doubted if she would ever be able to find them. The tears that were building up finally broke the barrier; a single tear fell from her eyes and landed on his.

But unlike Rapunzel, her Prince Charming didn't receive his eyesight.

But that didn't waiver her faith in fairy tales. Just the faith in her own.

"So yeah, even though I may never see you again, I just wanted to tell you I love you." The relief that she expected to feel never came; the burden weighing down her heart multiplied exponentially at the thought that she may never say it to him when he is awake. "It's so hard seeing you like this; it absolutely breaks my heart yet I never want to leave you. You can control me in ways I never thought possible. Had it been anyone else I would have been worried, but with you… well, I voluntarily relinquish all that power. So _please_ don't ever forget me… _please_ don't hate me for what I am doing…" her voice caught at the end of the sentence. She didn't realise that she had moved closer to him until she was sitting on his bed, her face less than a metre away from his own. "I'm doing it all for you. I love you." And then she leaned over and kissed him. It was a light brush of her lips against his, and she would have sworn he moved underneath her. She had hoped he would magically awaken when she withdrew and would look her in the eyes and confess that he heard everything that she said. That he felt the same as she.

She could envision him looking up at her, emerald eyes blazing and whispering the very same words back to her. She would then look at him in disbelief, losing all motor and movement abilities. And he would smirk that damn infuriating smirk of his and he would reach up and pull her head down.

And he would kiss her.

It would be soft, holding promises of a future, telling her they had all of eternity to do it. But it would also be insistent, conveying that it was going to be pretty damn impossible for him to ever leave her. She would then snap out of whatever stupid trance she fell into and she would respond. And after they travelled to the very edge of the universe she would pull back. And smile.

But her vision would never come into fruition.

Unlike Sleeping Beauty, he did not awaken with a kiss.

She wandered away slowly, pausing slightly at the door and looked back at his unmoving body despondently. There was something pulling her back to him; a small part of her willing to just cling to his side and never leave it until he awoke. But, there was a larger part of her that wanted Jade Dixon-Halliday to suffer for what she did to Oscar.

Rose wanted to see that woman dead.

And if her own life was taken in the process… well, that would be a small price to pay.

**MIHTD**

She met Stark and Carrie with high levels of anxiety coursing through her veins. She knew that she was not only endangering her life, but the lives of those most closest to her.

And that was infinitely worse.

They were already there, sitting at the table closest to _**their**_ park. Rose bit her lip in sorrow, she didn't know whether it had been a coincidence or Carrie was purposely taunting her. As she sat down with them, Stark immediately flagged down a waiter. After ordering two milkshakes – strawberry, and a cappuccino Stark turned to Rose and asked the question that had been haunting both him and Carrie since the invitation was accepted. "So Rose, why did you call us here?"

"Must we always talk about business?" Rose was avoiding that question, needing to plan this luncheon perfectly. She looked down and played with the ring on her finger.

"Does it have anything to do with the ring on your wedding finger? Did you go and elope? Oscar will be disappointed when he wakes up."

That got Stark's attention.

"What?! Rose, you know that all relationships with any outsiders must be approved by the Head. And who is this man anyhow? Why haven't I met him? Do you want an annulment? It can be arranged..."

"Wow papa bear Stark is ready to decapitate the poor fellow." Carrie smirked as Stark sent her one of his trademarked glares. She looked at Rose who had paled considerably since that taunt.

"I'm…I'm not married. Nor am I planning to anytime soon. I- that is absurd. The fact it was on the wrong finger completely slipped my mind. Why would even suggest that?" Carrie ignored the sigh of relief that escaped Stark's lips. Rose was his little girl, she had known that from the very beginning. It took a while for that fact to stop stinging, for her to stop the bitter resentment directed at both of them. She had blamed it on her 'teenage' stage, her yearning for the respect that Rose had seemed to earn almost effortlessly, even Oscar seemed to have what was a semblance of it from Stark. While she was left with none.

But she had moved on as she aged; she did earn his begrudged respect through hard work, but there was always a small voice in the back of her mind envying the relationship he had with her two colleagues.

"The ring is simply to do with some new technology upgrades me and Stewart are working on." Grunting, she slipped off the ring and placed it on the table. "Happy now?"

"Aww, Rose. You don't need to lie to us, we all know you've been planning your wedding since high school." _Since meeting Oscar_ was a silent addition in Carrie's mind.

"Am I the only one who finds this topic awkward to discuss?" Rose pouted at this, but both Stark and Carrie seemed to have – in a moment almost never to be repeated-unified to tease her mercilessly.

"Hey! I want to be a maid of honour at a wedding. My bucket list and all." Rose gave Carrie a pointed glare, and Carrie had the decency to look down sheepishly before continuing "and I want some nieces and nephews to spoil." Rose smiled at her friend, knowing from both her and Oscar that being an only child can be both a curse and a blessing.

"And I'm assuming that you want to walk down someone down the aisle and give them away."

Stark's heart stopped.

Sure Rose had only meant that in a teasing manner, she had her own father to do that, but still the thought… walking her down the aisle. Well, not her but anyone really. The experience. Yes, that was it; he just wanted the experience of walking her down the aisle. No! Anyone. Waking _**anyone**_ down the aisle. He mentally berated himself. _Stark, what the hell are you thinking. No emotional attachments. None. _Rose sensed something was off when he just stopped. And stared. She was wondering if she had pushed the wrong buttons or reminded him of something from his past that no one really knew anything about.

"Stark?" She reached out touch his hand lightly, whether to comfort him or bring him back to reality she wasn't necessarily sure, but what she did know was that when he immediately recoiled his hands away from her, as if her touch burned, _**that**_ wounded her a lot more than anyone would have realised. What he would have realised.

The look on her face when he did that was heart-wrenching.

"Sorry, I… sorry." He attempted a weak smile, but it quickly fell. Rose wanted to comfort him but the waiter had returned once more and the emotionless mask was brought back up. With Carrie, flirting once more Rose quickly reached over to grab her drink, and being successful, relief flooding her for another reason entirely.

"Sir, Stark. Don't be like this. What did I say wrong?"

He hated seeming weak in front people but Carrie was still flirting with the waiter who had brought them their beverages, and the only one who was watching him was Rose. And he felt that he could be himself around her.

"Nothing, it's just … I… I thought I was the older, slightly annoying brother?"

"You're Oscar's older, slightly annoying brother. You're… you're like my dad." He snorted at that statement.

"And what's Frank?" She should have seen it coming, Stark was a closed off individual, emotionally distant from everyone. Of course he wouldn't believe that she cared for him in the slightest.

"Frank and I well, we never had a tight relationship. But you… well, I see a lot of myself in you and…" she bit her lip and looked down frustrated. With everything complete and the possibility of not returning alive weighing heavily on her mind Rose had also resolved to show Stark how much he meant to her.

She could see through his tough façade. And she would prove it.

"Well, the way I saw it, it would be too dangerous to invite some of this country's greatest spies to a wedding full of civilians. It would be harder to ensure the safety of everyone involved if they were involved in the wedding…" Rose drifted off, hoping he would put the pieces she lay into place.

But he is Stark.

So he didn't.

"Rose what are you getting at?" His frustration was mounting at the cryptic clues and so he asked point-blank the purpose of her words. Sipping his cappuccino, he waited for an explanation.

"Well, I thought it was documented for some couples to hold two different ceremonies, one for family and other civilians and another for workmates. And so, if it is possible, would you possibly give me away then?"

Stark just stared blankly. For a while.

A long while.

"I mean…" Rose tried backpedalling fast "You don't need too – I don't mean to assume that you would want to- it's just that me and Oscar have been here since our childhood and well -" Rose's eyes widened "Not that me and Oscar have anything going on or any arrangements whatsoever, I was simply - "

He cut her off with a hug.

"Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Rose, you don't even need to ask, I would be honoured, I mean I would love to - " Then he went uncharacteristically silent and emotionless once more. Rose looked around and saw Carrie sucking up her milkshake holding in the amusement felt at his reaction. Rose childishly stuck her tongue out at Carrie, before turning to Stark who was clearing his already clear throat, straightening his already straightened shirt and murmuring a quiet 'thanks'.

And then she saw the time.

"Damn it!" Both heads swiftly turned in her direction. "No, no, no. I need more time, damn it- I should have given myself more time."

"Rose…" started Carrie slowly, cautiously.

"No- we don't have time for questioning. Carrie," Rose rushed "I want you to have this letter, hide it now, and don't touch it until after… after this meeting is over." Said girl made no move to hide the letter, but instead motioned to read it. "Carrie! I am serious! Now!" Grumbling quietly to herself, Carrie slid the letter into her purse, before turning to Rose.

"Content?"

"Very, oh, tell Stewart to check his emails. Now… ah, crap. Think Rose, think." She started mumbling to herself. "Is there anything you've forgotten. Of course not – you're Rose." She threw two handkerchiefs at her friends – her family and bit her lip. "You may need those soon."

"What are you on about, it's not like you're going to die." But with a simple bite to the lip and the avoidance of eye contact, Rose was able to convince Carrie otherwise.

"I love you both, so much." Carrie could see tears forming in Rose's eyes. "Tell Oscar I love him too."

And then it was time.

* * *

Carrie could describe the very instant she knew Rose was going to be taken. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Every sense seemed to be heightened to the nth degree. She could describe, with remarkable clarity, the intricate design on the brooch of the lady directly behind Rose, the shade of lipstick on the brooch-lady's companion. She could tell you the amount of coffee was in their cups and what their conversation was about.

She could describe the height and facial description of the three, bulky male THIK agents who seemed to appear from nowhere to the nearest millimetre and shade.

She could describe the awful hairstyle sported by their leader Jade.

She could describe the very density of the sleeping gas that engulfed them.

But she couldn't do a thing to stop them.

Carrie was panicked beyond what mere words could describe. But was more frightening than the fact that THIK found out about the luncheon that was only organised by Rose about two hours ago was the guilty look on Rose's face. Because it told Carrie everything she needed to know.

Rose knew about the attack.

"Rose?!" her voice was muffled by her handkerchief and the confusion that was flooding her system. "What on earth was the point of this meeting?" She got up, but the look on her friend's face told her to stay put. She could see the effects that the sleeping gas had on her best friend, the strength needed to simply stand was exhausting Rose tremendously.

But she wouldn't need that strength anymore.

Not when one of the agents swept Rose up in his arms. She didn't seem comfortable and she clearly didn't seem to be interested in helping herself. The resigned look on her face seemed to confirm that. Carrie was at a loss, unsure of what to do. Looking at her leader for guidance, Carrie was once again shocked into silence.

Stark… he was doing absolutely nothing. There was an anguished look he was so clearly displaying to the world, almost as if it were his life in the balance. As if it were his life that was flashing before his eyes.

Then, in an instant pink smoke surrounded Stark and Carrie; disappearing and taking Rose with it.

.

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.

And in that very instant her Sleeping Beauty awoke.

* * *

**I know**, I know. You waited 6 months and you got this. I would be pissed too - but you did get more than what you think you got... not a lot more, but still. Well, I did get writer's block and you would never believe it - the incident with the ring cured it (actually happened to me but it didn't go _that_ far)

Well - I think there's only a few more chapters remaining. So I'm upset - imma read some more Rose/ Oscar stories - which I know exist... somewhere in the plethora of "Zan." *author pouts* why can't there be more Roscar!

Okay, okay - fine. I'll work on the next chapter. Send me some love - or Roscar stories. I'll be euphoric with either.


	12. The Interlude

**_~MIHTD~_**

There was no Rose was there to welcome him back into the land of the living, no 'girl of his dreams' to profess her dying love for him like she had in his dream. And the kiss that followed, he would never doubt fairy-tales again.

Even in his sleep, he felt that jolt of electricity in his veins; bringing strength to his attenuated vessel.

But there was still no Rose with him.

Which was odd because he could smell her. Her scent of cinnamon mixed with the fragrance of a rose. The smell that had- on more than one occasion – been responsible for many smiles, the dispersing of numerous nightmares and calming him down from the emotional turmoil that seemed to be too strong for him to take on by himself. It was a glorious, heavenly, heart-melting, fear calming scent.

And it was present with him, engulfing him in that heavenly scent. It was all around him… and underneath him?

Reaching under the pillow, he felt an envelope. Unsure of his location and untrusting of his surroundings, he slid it underneath his blankets and manoeuvred it to his chest. He then opened it a fraction and felt a small bottle fall out and a note. But the note wasn't the heart-warming letter he had hoped, no its contents chilled him to the bone.

'_Oscar, if you are awake and reading this than your life might be in danger. The guard minding your room is the mole for THIK and informed your female parental unit of our whereabouts those many nights ago. I have drugged his tea but if he enters your room for any reason than I want you to spray the bottle provided in his face. It will kick start the drug in the tea and knock him out for 3 days. If he is the informant than I have been kidnapped by THIK and Carrie has a note detailing the plan I want MI9 to undertake, if he is not than we can explain it to him later.'_

There was no confession of undying love, no woman sleeping in the chair beside him – or better, curled up into his side. He would have preferred a red-rimmed eyed Rose and an onslaught of tears instead of this alternative he faced – no Rose to tell him all this information in person. And that single fact was more worrisome than the letter's contents. He contemplated getting up but then the action began.

He saw the man enter his room. If the menacing, overconfident smirk didn't alert Oscar to the fact that this guy shouldn't be trusted… the syringe in his hand and the THIK logo on his shirt did. Oscar knew he had to plan this to perfection; already weakened from the attack months ago and the lack of movement that followed, he knew that whatever strength he may have would fade fast.

Leaning over Oscar, the syringe positioned near the pulse point on his neck, the traitor couldn't help but gloat in his seemingly victorious moment. "First your girl, then you. MI9 sure are losing some of their greatest agents."

And that's when Oscar pounced.

Using whatever strength he was able to muster and some more gathered purely from the man's allusion to Rose, Oscar was able to land a powerful blow against the right side of the neck, shocking the agent's nerves and temporarily paralysing him in the arm that he was going to use against Oscar. And it wasn't just his nerves that were shocked. Gaping at a now completely awake Oscar, the few seconds that he was stunned were turned against him rather quickly. With a now useless right arm, he had no chance of stopping Oscar from taking advantage of that fact and quickly manoeuvring himself around and on top of the THIK agent. Oscar's knee was now holding him firmly against the bed that he was been watching diligently for over three months.

"Where is she?" Voice hoarse from disuse, Oscar grabbed the agent's hair and painfully twisted it to the side. The callous laugh that followed was not the answer he was looking for. He attempted shoving Rose's bottle in his face to seem more daunting "well, answer the damn question!"

"Who? The queen? Pretty sure she's still in Buckingham palace mate." Seeing that the double agent wasn't threatened by Rose's concoction, he reached for the one thing he knew would warrant some form of reaction from him.

The syringe.

And then the agent showed signs of being afraid. Deathly afraid.

"Hmm, seems to me that you don't want this in your neck." He then proceeded to press the needle against the THIK agent's neck. "Well, I don't like being mocked. Or lied to. Or ignored. So I want to make a proposition for you; you answer my questions honestly and you won't get to feel the wonderful effects of this serum."

"Y-yes." It was a shaky response, but still satisfactory for Oscar's mind.

"Now where is she?"

"I dunno sir. I- I – My responsibility was you. I- I dunno nothing 'bout her."

"When was she taken?"

"J-Just a few minutes ago. They-they sent word that the kidnapping was successful and we could now ki- elimi- take care of you."

"What do you plan on doing with her?" The double agent's eyes largened at that question.

"Please sir, don't make me answer that question. Please."

"Why not?" Oscar could barely speak at that point; the fury bubbling under his skin was barely being controlled. There was going to be an eruption, and it was going to occur soon. Instinctively Oscar pushed the needle harder.

"Use your imagination."

And then Oscar regretted even thinking of the question. Images – too many images – came flooding his mind, Rose – his Rose – going through _**so, so**_ much. So much pain. So much agony. So much torture. But in an instant it was gone; forcibly pushed to the side by a mental strength gathered in many years of training. The double agent, just realising that he missed his one possible chance of escape let out a string of curses quickly followed by a large amount of whimpers as Oscar reminded him of what position he was actually in.

* * *

Oscar was just growing frustrated, he wanted answers and this man's stuttering was not helpful.

"Who was she taken by?" He all but growled this question, seeking confirmation more than anything else.

"THIK agents sir" Oscar pressed the needle harder against the man's skin, breaking through his epidermis and enabling Oscar to poison him easily. And the agent recognised it. "Jade personally." And receiving that confirmation all but stopped Oscar from letting his primitive side out. The growl could barely be contained with the knowledge that the one he loved wholeheartedly was taken by the only person he could hate with an equal passion. The desire for bloodshed had never existed with Oscar before, but Rose had never been in a situation like this either. "You're – you're not going to kill me with that. I- I- I understand you're upset, but- but don't do something you'll regret." The panic interlaced with every word frustrated Oscar more than anything else. Rose was taken.

Possibly being tortured.

Possibly killed.

And this idiot cared about facing a swift, simple, painless (maybe) death?

He pushed the syringe harder against the man's neck, relishing in the fear he was exuding, the beast within him slightly sated at seeing the people who are harming Rose face a similar fate. But that beast would never be fully satisfied until all of them were dealt with. One of them _**personally**_ dealt with.

"Something I'll regret, you want to know the thing I'll regret." In an instant the bottle left by Rose was in the double agent's face and being sprayed. "The thing I'll regret would be keeping you alive."

The traitor was already knocked out cold.

* * *

And then it hit him. His heart finally comprehending what his mind learnt only a few minutes ago.

Rose was kidnapped.

His mother kidnapped Rose.

She was **gone**.

Knowing that Rose wasn't here anymore drained all the energy he had mustered up. He collapsed on his bed, not listening to the quiet siren that alerted the doctors that possibly something fatal happened to him. He didn't hear the rush of people to his room, fearing the worst outcome and hoping for the best.

Because there was no 'best' outcome.

Because no Rose was there to welcome him back into the land of the living, no 'girl of his dreams' to profess her dying love for him like she had in his dream.

Because she was kidnapped. By his mother. And probably may not make it out alive.

Ever.

And with that shock realisation he welcomed the oblivion.

* * *

**What?** An update? By moi? It hasn't even been the standard issue 6 month wait! I guess I was so surprised that people still read this story I had to give you a little something. And I mean little (probably could have combined it with the next chapter but it didn't feel right.)

The end is nigh, my little ones. So excited to see your reaction to the ending of the next chapter (which reminds me, does Jade have jade coloured eyes? And jade is just a green colour, isn't it?) I may go into withdrawal, so send me a R/O inspired prompt - I can't guarantee I'll do something other than imagine something taking place in my mind. But still - hit me.


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